Columbus Consulting Tackles Major Retail Challenges at May Industry Vendor Conferences

COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - April 29, 2008) - Columbus Consulting, Inc. (CCi) today announced that company principals, Richard von Hirschberg and Stuart Tattum, will be presenting at two major vendor conferences May 18-21, 2008. von Hirschberg will address supply chain profitability at Manhattan Associates Momentum 08 Conference in Orlando while Tattum will jointly present with Hibbett Sports at the JDA FOCUS 2008 Conference occurring at the same time in Las Vegas. Tattum and Hibbett Sports will speak to the sporting good retailer's recent implementation of JDA Enterprise Planning.

Supply chain and planning are two of the core areas of business expertise that CCi focuses on with many of the firm's retail customers. von Hirschberg, who has more than 25 years' experience in retail processes and in the design, development and implementation of various merchandising systems, will discuss the planning, allocation and replenishment processes that are critical to retailer profitability and why they are so important in context of supply chain.

"As we have worked with the industry's leading brands, we have made three key observations about the current retail climate relative to supply chain," stated von Hirschberg. "First, good retailers make money in adverse economic circumstances; second, supply chain efficiency does not necessarily equal profitability; and third, optimizing supply chain throughput may negatively affect profitability. I look forward to discussing these observations, as well as the importance of effectively managing the supply chain in today's retail environment, with the industry's supply chain leaders at this year's Momentum Conference."

Tattum, a 23-year retail software and consulting veteran, and Hibbett Sports, a successful sporting goods company with more than 650 stores in 23 states, will present a case study on why the retailer selected the JDA Enterprise Planning software application. They will also discuss the implementation approach and the benefits the company has experienced with the system's deployment to support product planning processes.

"The FOCUS Conference provides us a great opportunity to demonstrate both CCi's thought leadership in terms of planning, assortment and allocation, as well as what happens when a company has a successful strategy, approach and implementation of a planning solution," commented Tattum. "The presentation with Hibbett Sports will allow attendees to compare their current plans with what has proven to be a successful approach to a deployment that will continue to expand to include Channel and Assortment Planning."

In addition to Tattum's presentation at the Focus Conference, CCi is an Innovator sponsor of the event and will have a presence in the Solutions Zone, which provides FOCUS attendees with an opportunity to network and experience the latest innovations from JDA's business partners. CCi has developed significant expertise in the Enterprise Planning software application by working with a number of leading retailers to implement this solution. In addition, eight members of the CCi team were recently certified as Enterprise Planning - Server Edition Technical Administrators.

About Columbus Consulting, Inc.

Founded by industry veteran Richard Amari in 2001, Columbus Consulting comprises a team of highly experienced specialists in retail business process and systems. The company works with many of the world's largest and best-known retailers, including American Eagle Outfitters, Ann Taylor, Saks, Big Lots, Guitar Center, CVS Pharmacy, and New York & Company. While Columbus Consulting is called upon to provide a variety of services, their primary focus is in planning & allocation, reporting & analysis, data warehousing and IT strategy/leadership. Projects range in scope from managing short-term, high-impact, executive-level advisory services to overseeing large, multi-disciplinary, multi-million dollar projects, lasting more than a year. For more information on Columbus Consulting, visit www.columbusconsulting.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Kevin Wilson 513-898-1008