Crowley leads Myriad Software
Higgins retires after 18 years at company
Ray Allegrezza -- Furniture Today, August 13, 2008
SAN DIEGO — After the retirement of her longtime partner, Carolyn Crowley is ready to lead Myriad Software forward.
Russ Higgins had a successful 18-year run as a business partner with Crowley. But even before the two co-founded Myriad, he established himself as a technical expert in the furniture retail management software business since starting as the first applications programmer for S.A. Levitz Retail Systems in 1979.
At Myriad, he was instrumental in the development of Eclicktic, the company’s flagship furniture retail management software tool for point-of-sale, inventory management, merchandising, accounting, and more. Higgins also directed the company’s software development team.
Recently, Furniture/Today interviewed Crowley about her long business partnership with Higgins and about her plans for Myriad’s continued growth.
F/T: When and how did you and Russ meet?
Crowley: Russ and I met in 1980 when we were both working at S.A. Levitz Retail Systems. We were involved in a number of major products over our 10 years there, including working with Oracle development tools well before Oracle was very well known.
Russ left that company in 1989 to do consulting and I left in the middle of 1990. By then, a growing number of consumers were purchasing computers for their homes as were furniture retailers for their stores. However, most mid-size furniture retailers were frustrated trying to find affordable software because many of the hardware suppliers required that you bought the software from them.
F/T: And you realized there could be an opportunity there?
Crowley: Yes. Russ and I decided that we would build an affordable, stand-alone software product for mid-sized retailers. I worked for a department store prior to working at S.A. Levitz and managed several furniture departments. S.A. Levitz was one of Russ’s first jobs, so together we felt we knew the furniture industry pretty well prior to forming formed Myriad Software.
F/T: And the rest, as they say, was history?
Crowley: Actually, the “how” of how we launched the product was challenging at first. We had four months of development completed for portions of our primary product. We took it to the High Point Market in October 1990 to see if we could, at minimum, receive feedback from furniture retailers.
F/T: How did you do?
Crowley: We sold our first two systems from that first High Point Market. Keep in mind that we each were working from our respective homes, sending info back and forth via a modem phone connection and were financing the company from our savings accounts!
F/T: How did you divide up responsibilities in those early days?
Crowley: To make things flow smoothly, we based our partnership on our respective educations. Russ has a degree in computer science, and my degree is in business.
Russ did the programming for the first several years while I handled the sales, marketing and training. But we always worked on product design jointly, he from a more technical perspective and me from the perspective of a furniture retailer.
F/T: And then?
Crowley: After the first few years, product development, training and support were handled by our staff. Russ and I continued to work on the design of large modules that we added to our product.
While Russ and the development team began to build a brand new product for a Windows-based system … I went on to grow the company and began working with manufacturers who had dealer or licensee programs. We were able to establish that product, Eclicktic, as the “system of choice” for many large manufacturers that had retail operations owned by independent licensees. We still work with these licensee programs today.
F/T: So, moving forward, who will do what Russ did?
Crowley: Russ moved out of managing the Development Team about seven years ago and transitioned into more of an R&D role at Myriad. And since he had been talking about taking an early retirement, we had ample time for an incredibly smooth transition.
We also hired people to take on the role of director of development seven years ago and that position has become key in reviewing and guiding the company with new technology, products, etc. All these changes were put in place before 2007.
F/T: Who are some of your key players at Myriad now?
Crowley: We hired Kim Anderson-Woods six years ago as our director of support and she continues to play a key role in our company. Kim worked for me at our former employer in the 1980s and we are fortunate to have her on our staff with her knowledge of the furniture industry and our client base.
Diane Covel was hired a few years ago and has taken on the role of director of training. Diane worked for me some years ago and also has great knowledge of furniture retailers and our industry.
Our last key position at Myriad was filled by James Smith, who stepped into the role of director of development. James will oversee technical issues, development tools, reviewing the new technologies being made available and managing our Development Team.
F/T: What new services are you providing at Myriad?
Crowley: We’re launching a new Web site, changing our Web site name to Myriadsoftware.com, which just recently became available, and are continually upgrading our services via new tools for our products.
We are also beefing up our ongoing training for our existing client base, in part, by a steady stream of e-blasts that highlights new software versions features. Lastly, both our Customer Relationship Management module and our Browser modules continue to be a big focus for our clients and ongoing development.
F/T: Talk to me about how your business has changed over the past few years.
Crowley: We transitioned from initially launching a single-user software product to multi-users within two years in the early 1990s. We also were the first company to provide manufacturer clients with a means to provide product data electronically to their retailers in 1996. We also began developing our Windows-based product in 1997. We also transitioned our customers to a Windows-based product from a DOS-based system in 1998. Then in 2004, we developed our own CRM-Customer Relationship Management module followed by developing our own Browser product, which allowed our clients to move into a wireless environment in 2005.
F/T: So what do you have up your sleeve that will position Myriad for ongoing growth?
Crowley: First and foremost, with the economy and the industry being what it is, Myriad Software intends to grow our business with the affordable and quality solution that retailers have come to rely on us for.
In fact, I think that this kind of economic climate really provides the perfect opportunity for a retailer to grow his or her business with the help of a more robust and affordable software solution then they may now have.
I also believe that retail sales conducted on the Internet will also help drive more traffic into the store and ultimately grow the retailer’s overall sales. That’s why Myriad has spent 2008 designing and developing features that not only allow our existing clients to move forward with e-commerce, but also facilitates the efforts of future clients who want to downsize their current stores or warehousing environment.
Downsizing, to me, does not have to mean fewer sales. Rather, it can mean selling product with other options and those options that appeal to a lot of consumers!
In addition to looking at ongoing product enhancements, we intend to grow by intently listening to the needs, suggestions and recommendations of our customers.
We will also continue to keep close tabs on any and every new development within the home furnishings industry so that, where applicable, we can incorporate those changes into our product in order to help manufacturers, retailers and consumers alike.
Last and certainly not least, we plan to continue to work on our relationships with current clients and, of course, building new ones!
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