BKST Brookstone (MM)

Brookstone Chooses Evant Solutions to Optimize Planning and Forecasting for Its Retail Stores Leading Product Developer and Specialty Retailer Will Use Evant Solutions to Improve Visibility and Better Adapt to In-Season Demand Changes SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Evant, a leading provider of retail planning, replenishment, and enterprise data management software, today announced that Brookstone, Inc. (NASDAQ:BKST) -- an innovative product developer and specialty retailer -- will be leveraging Evant Planning solutions to optimize the performance of its nationwide chain of retail stores. Evant Planning solutions will help to improve visibility into Brookstone's retail operations, leading to enhanced planning and forecasting capabilities -- as well as an increased ability to adapt to in-season demand changes. Gary Drake, Brookstone Operational Vice President of Inventory Management, says Brookstone chose Evant software for its ease of use, fast response time, and overall flexibility. "The Evant solution allows individual Merchants and planning teams to address the complex task of item planning in a variety of ways, and it can be customized to suit the preferences of the specific user," Drake says. "Evant will allow us to drive plans to a lower level of detail than previous solutions had been able to accomplish, which will provide better visibility across time and business segments." Evant Planning includes a scalable Item Planning capability that enables retailers like Brookstone to achieve a new level of visibility into the performance of individual products, tying this performance directly to the top-level financial plan. The benefits of this unique Evant solution include an improved ability to understand and respond to seasonal trends, maintain adequate stock levels, and strategically manage profit margins. "Brookstone has established a reputation as a developer and retailer of highly innovative products, and is emerging as an exciting leader in specialty retailing," says Bob Lewis, CEO for Evant. "We're delighted that this inventive retailer is joining our expanding customer family, and we look forward to helping to support some of Brookstone's key business strategies with our industry-leading Planning solutions." About Brookstone, Inc. Brookstone, Inc. is a product development and specialty retail company that operates 288 Brookstone brand stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico. Typically located in high-traffic regional shopping malls, lifestyle centers, and airports, Brookstone stores feature unique and innovative consumer products. The company also operates five stores under the Gardeners Eden brand, and a direct-marketing business that consists of three catalog titles -- Brookstone, Hard-to-Find Tools and Gardeners Eden -- as well as e-commerce web sites at http://www.brookstone.com/ and http://www.gardenerseden.com/ . About Evant Planning Evant Planning is the retail industry's first six-dimensional scalable, end-to-end planning solution designed to support multi-channel operations. Evant Planning can manage assortments, plan, and forecast sales and inventory requirements across multiple category levels -- store, catalog, and web channels -- all the way down to the SKU/channel level. Whether planning top-down, bottom-up, middle-out, or a combination of each, Evant Planning accommodates each retailer's specific merchandising processes. About Evant, Inc. Evant delivers industry-leading planning, replenishment, and enterprise data management solutions to the world's top multi-channel retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Evant's next-generation solutions improve top- and bottom-line results and operational efficiencies by helping to plan and fulfill customer demand, while increasing sales and inventory performance. Customers such as Staples, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Lillian Vernon, Brookstone, Babystyle, and AmerisourceBergen choose Evant for its best-in-class solutions that incorporate the industry's most advanced science, and are delivered on a J2EE platform. The company is privately held and is headquartered in San Francisco, with operations in Atlanta and London. For more information, visit http://www.evant.com/. DATASOURCE: Evant, Inc. CONTACT: Jennifer Burns of Evant, +1-415-403-8618, or Web site: http://www.brookstone.com/ Web site: http://www.gardenerseden.com/ Web site: http://www.evant.com/

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