The Tile Shop Improves Enterprise Performance with Business Objects

Business Wire, Oct 18, 2004

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Tile Shop's Director of Information Technology to Speak About Company's Success at Business Objects 2004 International User Conference

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ) (Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that The Tile Shop, a growing retailer of ceramic, porcelain, and natural stone tile, has implemented Business Objects solutions to help execute an aggressive growth strategy for the chain in the coming months and years. Gerald Baltrusch, Director of IT at The Tile Shop, will present a case study on The Tile Shop's plans to become a performance-based company at the Business Objects International User Conference at the Gaylord Texas Resort in Grapevine, Texas, November 7-10.

The Tile Shop operates 30 stores throughout the nation and is growing rapidly. With Business Objects solutions, The Tile Shop is able to analyze and define best practices at current stores that can then be replicated at new locations. For example, at the point of sale, The Tile Shop staff identifies whether an individual or a contractor made a purchase. This distinction is important because contractors purchase tile in bulk for large projects, such as finishing a housing development, and receive special incentives as a result. The Tile Shop then downloads the data from its point-of-sale terminals nightly, and using Business Objects solutions, executives determine which stores and regions are attracting more contractors, and which are attracting more individual consumers. This helps ensure that marketing dollars are being properly allocated between these two important types of customers.

In addition, the Tile Shop is on track to push through the $100 million revenue benchmark, making it imperative that upper management have immediate access to business information. With this goal in mind, The Tile Shop is implementing BusinessObjects(TM) Dashboard Manager and BusinessObjects Performance Manager to track key performance measurements by department and store. The Tile Shop also uses BusinessObjects Data Integrator to deliver data to their performance management dashboards. Gerald Baltrusch, Director of IT at The Tile Shop, will address his company's EPM strategy at a special track session during the Business Objects International User Conference in November.

"Knowing the details behind daily operations is a necessary obsession for our management team and store managers," said Gerald Baltrusch, director of information technology at The Tile Shop. "I am looking forward to presenting what we've learned so far, and the information that will be critical for us in the future at this year's Business Objects International User Conference. We are transitioning from operating on gut feel to really understanding and implementing against the numbers, and I look forward to sharing what we have learned with conference attendees."

"Understanding and delivering the right product mix at the right time to their varied customer base is essential to mid-sized retailers like The Tile Shop," said Russ Hill, director of worldwide industry marketing for retail and consumer product goods for Business Objects. "That's why so many retailers of all sizes are turning to Business Objects to gain insight into trends and activities to understand customer and product assortment requirements. We are honored that Gerald Baltrusch has agreed to share his successes with Business Objects at our International User Conference in a session that I'm sure attendees will not want to miss."

The Business Objects 2004 International User Conference will take place November 7-10, 2004, at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas. For more information or to register, go to http://www.businessobjectsevents.com/userconference04/.> About The Tile Shop

Since its inception in 1984, The Tile Shop has held to one singular purpose: to provide the marketplace with an unparalleled selection of world-class product, showcasing in award-winning showrooms the extraordinary beauty and value found in ceramic, porcelain and natural stone tile. For more information, visit The Tile Shop on the Web at http://www.tileshopsuperstore.com/.> About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business intelligence enables organizations to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance. The company's solutions leverage the information that is stored in an array of corporate databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

Popular uses of BI include enterprise reporting, management dashboards and scorecards, customer intelligence applications, financial reporting, and both customer and partner extranets. These solutions enable companies to gain visibility into their business, acquire and retain profitable customers, reduce costs, optimize the supply chain, increase productivity, and improve financial performance.