Retail

PriveCo Inc. president Tom Nardone tells us what it takes to be Hired by his company.

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Filed under: Retail | Troy, MI

Tom Nardone is president of PriveCo Inc., a Troy, Michigan-based company.  Nardone has expanded his team in the past year and offers Michigan Innovators an insider’s look at what it takes to be hired by the “world’s most private company.” 

Our Q & A with Nardone:

Q. Tell us about PriveCo.

A. PriveCo, The World's Most Private Company, offers embarrassing products in professional shopping environments, online. It specializes in answering questions that are embarrassing to ask and delivery products that are embarrassing to buy.  Every order is processed by our team here in metro Detroit.

Q. What types of positions have you filled within last year?

A. We've hired a copywriter (paid intern), a marketing coordinator (paid intern) and two full time people for our warehouse.

Q. What types of skills are required of these positions?
A. Writing, analytical / marketing skills, manual skills, and reading comprehension

Q. What's the top thing you look for in a new hire?
A. Loyalty / Durability. We look for hires that have worked at another company for a long time, especially if that other company doesn’t seem that great to work for.  We know that this type of person will be happy working here.

Q. What's one thing that HR managers look for in a new hire that job seekers should focus on in interviews, resumes, etc.?
A. I feel that the cover letter is important, but nothing is as important as a stable work history.

Tom Ungrodt provides a detailed break down on what small retailers can expect to expend in marketing and how Ideation's services fit into this budget. A significant challenge small gift retailers face is in attracting customers outside of the major holidays. The PowerPass loyalty card is aimed at keeping those customers coming back throughout the year. Jay Upell ends the discussion by outlining his goal to double the number of retailers using PowerPass in the next 12 months.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Finding Gaps | Ideation | Jay Upell | PowerPass | Retail | Tom Ungrodt | Twelve Month Goals

This is our final podcast in our series on Ideation's new PowerPass loyalty card. In this podcast (download iPod compatible, 47MB), Tom Ungrodt and I begin by discussing the economics of print advertising and loyalty cards for the small gift shop operators who are Ideation's customers. Then Jay Upell and I discuss where he would like to see Ideation's PowerPass loyalty card in a year and how he views the competition.

Tom's discussion of small gift retailer economics and advertising is quite informative. Here are the highlights:

• For gift shops, there are two major holidays per year large enough to support mailing Ideation's catalog, Christmas and Mother's day.
• The minimum catalog printing is $6300 for 10,000 catalogs plus approximately another $2000 for mailing them.
• Ideation's average customer does under $1M per year in revenues, suggesting an advertising budget of $35–$50K. Two catalog mailings eat up half this budget.
• Retailers wanting to get year round impact for their advertising budget might see loyalty cards as an option that keeps customers returning.

Bob Holland describes Ideation's Powerpass Card. Powerpass is a loyalty card product targeted for use by small retailers with their customers.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Bob Holland | Finding Gaps | Ideation | PowerPass | Retail

In this 7 minute podcast (download ipod compatible, 38MB), Bob Holland and I continue our discussion of business and technology innovation by examining a company with which he is intimately familiar, Powerpass. Powerpass is an outgrowth of Ideation, a local Ann Arbor company, that made its original business 41 years ago by providing gift catalog services to small retailers. Bob has an ownership stake in Powerpass.

Powerpass is designed to help local retailers compete with national big box retailers like Walmart. It provides local retailers with a loyalty card that can be used at the retailer as well as with other retailers in the local area. Loyalty cards allow consumers who frequent stores to receive discounts as a reward for continuing to shop at the store. Most national chains offer them. However, small retailers are not in a measure, themselves, to create the infrastructure to support these cards. A challenge in creating Powerpass is developing a value proposition that appeals to a broad enough array of small retailers.

Powerpass seems to represent a case of innovation where the true value comes from blending technology with specific business opportunities. In a forthcoming interview, we'll speak with Tom Ungrodt, CEO of Ideation, and Jay Upell, leader of the Powerpass effort. They will provide an interesting operational perspective on working with small retailers.