What Happened?
Monrovia, CA-based Trader Joe's has Retired Thomas English as Chief Information Officer
About the Company
It all started in the 50s... Would you believe we started out as a small chain of convenience stores? It`s true. Way back in 1958. We were called Pronto Markets. In `67, our founder, the original Trader Joe, changed our name (yes, to Trader Joe`s) and the way we do business. We made the stores bigger (if you can imagine), decked the walls with cedar planks and donned our crew in cool Hawaiian shirts. Most importantly, we started putting innovative, hard-to-find, great-tasting foods in the "Trader Joe`s" name. That cut our costs and saved you money. Still does. And that`s important, because "Value" is a concept we take very seriously. And by value we mean great everyday prices on all of our great products — no sales, no gimmicks, no clubs to join, no special cards to swipe... How do we do it? - We buy direct from suppliers whenever possible, we bargain hard to get the best price, and then pass the savings on to you. - If an item doesn`t pull its weight in our stores, it goes away to gangway for something else. - We buy in volume and contract early to get the best prices. - Most grocers charge their suppliers fees for putting an item on the shelf. This results in higher prices... so we don`t do it. - We keep our costs low — because every penny we save is a penny you save.
About the Person
Thomas English’s long career in retail technology includes holding a CIO title since 1986 – when Ronald Reagan was president and the Internet was used by only a small handful of people. While English’s first love was music, leading to his attaining a BS in music from Combs College of Music in Philadelphia along with a degree from Temple University, a stint in the armed forces changed the direction of his career. Programming training from the Air Force revealed his love of working with computer technology. Some career highlights include helping design and build a new data center, forecasting, merchandising and warehouse systems at Pier 1 Imports during the time it was coming out of its former “beads and incense” period. Then at Ernst Home Centers, a 97-store Seattle-based chain, Tom developed an in-house Executive Information System that eventually became part of the curriculum at the University of Washington’s MBA program. That’s also where English was involved in developing the first CAD system for kitchen, bath and custom closet designs. In 1997 English was recruited to be the CIO of Sears Hardware store division, where a particular challenge was developing a custom executive dashboard and EIS system that integrated the unique merchandising hierarchies from Sears and its newly acquired Orchard Supply hardware stores. From 1999 until his retirement a few months ago, English was the CIO at Trader Joe’s, charged with developing an IT strategy that would allow the company to grow and expand. This included implementing the retailer’s first POS system that used scanning and product look-up (PLU). Prior to that Trader Joe’s had individually priced every item and only captured two departments, grocery or alcohol, with no SKU information. English’s job also included replacing almost all of the company’s core business applications, including financials, HR/payroll, merchandising and warehouse functions. All this has taken place with a staff of less than 50 people and during a period when the retailer has grown from just over $1 billion and 100 stores to now nearly $11 billion and 400 stores. English’s philosophy has been focused on learning the backgrounds of his staff people, their strong and weak points, and then placing them in positions that fit their backgrounds and future objectives. Strong leadership, good communication, and giving people the authority and room to succeed and grow have been key reasons for his success, and his ability to communicate in non-technical business terms in boardroom discussions has helped him always to be included in key company decision making.
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