Retail IT Visionary To Guide MarketMAX's Online Strategies And Products

MarketMAX(R), Inc. of Danvers, Mass., today announced that Kenneth L. Brame, one of the leading information technology officers in the retail industry, has joined the company as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Brame will spearhead the company's technology strategy and implementation in support of its full range of merchandising solutions including Market4Retail.com(TM), the company's B-to-B collaborative marketplace; its fully integrated merchandise planning and optimization solutions; and its hosted suite of merchandising services that is being announced today. (See separate release)

"We are elated to have Ken on the MarketMAX team," commented Lori J. Schafer, CEO of MarketMAX. "Ken is widely respected within the retail, supplier and software communities for his visionary thinking, his deep understanding and experience in retail information technology and merchandising, his strong Internet experience and his leadership ability in building a world-class development organization. He brings to the MarketMAX executive team highly innovative technology leadership, industry insights, knowledge of the operations of all retail verticals ranging from department store/apparel to mass discount to food and drug, as well as a tremendous industry-wide reputation. Ken will be instrumental as MarketMAX moves to become an unparalleled provider of Internet-based merchandising services for retailers and suppliers."

Brame will be responsible for marrying the company's innovative business vision with its product strategy and the delivery of its growing online offerings. He will oversee all development initiatives and will be responsible for selecting and administering all strategic technology relationships. Brame brings considerable insight into the needs and operating methods of both retailers and their suppliers to guide MarketMAX in the development of its product offerings.

Brame was most recently Senior Vice President/Chief Information Officer for Service Merchandise Co., headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. He was responsible for the definition, design, development, integration and implementation of the systems strategy for the multi-billion dollar retailer. In addition, Brame was responsible for strategic system and architectural planning; business process analysis; computer operations for mainframe, mid-range and client/server networks; voice and data communications operations; and e-commerce development. He has specified, selected and implemented software packages for budgeting, decision support, all aspects of merchandise planning and management, as well as radio frequency (RF) scanner based warehousing and store systems. He has also deployed point-of-sale (POS) systems that support flexible promotions and instituted an innovative gift registry system using touch screens and scanners.

Beginning in 1996, Brame was a pioneer of Business-to-Consumer e-commerce with Service Merchandise's online store, one of the few Web sites that is tightly integrated with mail order and brick & mortar operations. It provides gift registry, gift suggestion and the ability to check store inventory levels as well as other leading-edge e-commerce capabilities. The site has since grown to be ranked one of the top ten most visited multi-category retail sites for the 1999 Christmas selling season by Nielsen Netratings.

Prior to joining Service Merchandise, Brame held executive level information technology positions at American Stores Company, Belk Stores, Parisian Stores and Foley's Department Stores. He has served as Chairman of the Board of the Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS). He has also served on the National Retail Federation CIO Council and the 3-COM Corporation Retail Advisory Board.

Brame is often featured in information technology articles on the retail industry and has received many industry honors. He was named one of the top ten retail CIO's for 1998 by Retail Technology (now RetailTech) magazine. Under his guidance, Service Merchandise was ranked in the InformationWeek top 500 in 1998 (#198) and 1999 (#96), and MSNBC named Service Merchandise one of the top retail e-commerce sites in 1998.

About MarketMAX

MarketMAX, Inc. is the leading provider of integrated e-business, merchandising and optimization solutions for the $2.7 trillion retail market. The company's Business-to-Business electronic marketplace, Market4Retail.com (www.market4retail.com), opens a global collaboration network to all types of retailers and their suppliers on merchandising and procurement decisions. Market4Retail.com complements the physical markets and buying world with an e-commerce toolset designed to optimize assortment selection and placement while dramatically compressing time and cost. By integrating into both retailers' and suppliers' planning and operational systems, Market4Retail.com provides both intra- and inter-company collaboration from initial market visits through the entire merchandising, design and manufacturing processes. Known for its innovation and quality products and services, MarketMAX delivers a compelling value proposition to its customers by maximizing sales, margin productivity and ROI of the product assortment. MarketMAX customers include Burlington Coat Factory, Circuit City, Gibson Greetings, Lowe's Companies, Inc., Marks & Spencer, REI, Service Merchandise, ShopKo Stores, The Sports Authority, Williams-Sonoma and VF Corporation.