A Tribute to Kevin McIntosh, formerly of Chico's FAS: A Legacy in IT, Intellectual Technology

A wise man once told Rod that he read that there are three types of people you meet in life: ?The Right Person for the Right Moment, The Right Person for the Right Time, The Right Person Forever.

Kevin McIntosh passed from the world suddenly on October 9, 2021.?Carol Scalzo was in touch with us regarding the news on Kevin’s untimely passing.?Like so many of those we know who knew Kevin, the news came with shock and disbelief, segueing into the realm of surreal which has remained with us.?Like so many others, we are grateful to have known Kevin.?A nice man.?A gentleman.?A genuine man.?A concerned and caring man.?A professional throughout.?Intellect and niceness and professionalism, drive, passion, dedication and healthy ambition all rolled into one human being.?He was a man who took pride in his work and enjoyed seeing others succeed.?He was a man who could laugh.?And, for all these and more, we believe all those who worked with Kevin were fortunate to have known him and experience the person he was.

Olson-Ng Retail Consulting Group could not permit this moment to pass without paying tribute to him.?After all, he, together with Carol Scalzo, was one of the quiet heroes who helped build the IT foundations that allowed White House|Black Market to grow geometrically into the national retailer it became, 2004 – 2008.?The senior operating executive team of Kelly Santos and Rabia Farhang as VPs/GMMs flawlessly selecting the product; Josh Rosenfeld as VP for Planning and Allocation setting and executing merchandise plans for up to 50 new store openings a year; and Tanya Cauren as VP for Production, Sourcing, Technical Design and Quality developing and executing in-house sourcing and manufacturing to almost 90% of the total product line in about two years, Michele Fichter as VP for Sales and Operations who actually, physically opened over 250 stores in that time period and Rod who eventually joined them as SVP of all Business Operations, each conceptualized and executed these record-breaking feats while building new teams.?During this time, the store base grew from 105 stores to 350+ stores while launching, with the incredible support of Connie Uriate and Bari Horton, the Direct-to-Consumer business.?Sales grew by 200% in this time, operating margins by over 250%, generating brand operating margins in excess of 10%.?Comps store sales (stores opened one year or more) consistently were delivering double digit increases year over year over year.?Yes, recruiters have questioned us if this really happened and certainly, there are those who still don’t believe it.?But it did happen.?

Underlying it all was a pipeline of information, a pipeline of intelligence that permitted the informed decisions and direction that we all thrived on.?It came from the support of an incredible IT team, and within it, Kevin McIntosh who knew what had to be done and got it done for White House|Black Market.?He knew that information was critical to support this growth, that systems had to be reliable, and that understanding product and store performance were key to success.?He led the charge with his partner Carol Scalzo, who was his “boots on the ground”, and a member of the WH|BM senior operating executive team.?Kevin understood his role was not about capturing and delivering flat-file information, but about providing robust, three-dimensional, decision-oriented Intellectual Technology.

Rod continues…

I came to know Kevin when Scott Edmonds and Charlie Kleman decided to purchase White House|Black Market for the Chico’s FAS family of brands.?I had been consulting with WH|BM then, helping Bev Donovan, Director of Planning and Allocation shore up management protocols for their single largest investment, the inventory, in preparation for their IPO.?The IPO was filed and pulled back within one day after Scott and Charlie made their offer.?I was asked as a consultant to lead the integration of the WH|BM merchandising system into the Chico’s system, which at that time, was STS.?Scott, Charlie and a few others flew to Glen Burnie, Maryland, original home of WH|BM, to begin the discussions.?On the first morning, I walked into the WH|BM first floor conference room and was surprised to be greeted by Carol Scalzo with whom I had worked years prior at Liz Claiborne.?It was a great reunion of friends who had not seen each other in many years.?I had an immediate comfort level that we would make a strong team with Carol as the lead for Chico’s.?

I flew to Fort Myers with Kelly Santos and Bill Mullen, another former Director of Planning and Allocation for WH|BM, for our next meeting.?It was here that we were first introduced to Kevin.?The meeting was a daunting array of systems and finance executives from Chico’s, and included Melody Mitchell, the executive leading the integration project for STS.?The discussions were long, lasting over several days.?On the first night, then CIO Ajit Patel, took us all to dinner at the University Grill.?Throughout the working discussions, lunches and that casual dinner, Kevin ingratiated himself to us and truly made Kelly, Bill and me feel at ease with the task we were embarking upon.?We quickly came to know the personable, reliable person that he was.

The cutover was a huge project.?Not only were we cutting over to the STS system, but we were first converting the entire Merchandise Hierarchy for WH|BM, which needed to be executed and in place prior to the migration of the system.?I’ve worked on system upgrades and implementations and have had my share of hierarchy changes previously, but never all at once.

Throughout this time, Kevin proved to be an anchor for the team of Carol, Melody and me.?His calming voice was one of informed reason, lightly peppered with humor.?He always delivered a clear direction while he was sitting in his office on the Chico’s campus.?He always had time to speak to one or all of us when we needed a sounding board.?Looking back, our work was heroic.?We launched a PIM tool, a merchandising system, a planning and allocation system and an entirely new and massive Merchandise Hierarchy down to the color level in a record-breaking nine months.?We were a strong team.?We had Kevin to support us, removing the obstacles along the way, going to bat for us and all done with his unique sense of humor, timed perfectly, just when we all needed it. His knowledge of the systems and calming demeanor gave us all a sense that everything was always under control.

I remember well the nights of the migrations.?We all felt confident in the work that led up to them, but of course, there was that ubiquitous anxiety which is always present in large system projects such as this.?I remember the relief I felt when receiving the call from Carol of the successful completions of the cutovers after she babysat them all night.?Three months later, with the added assistance of Larry McGivern and Paul Manaugh, Carol, Melody and I had the new merchandise reports completed for White House|Black Market, all strategic to understanding business performance for the Senior Management, the Merchants, Planners and Allocators, the Stores Organization, the Designers and Technical Teams, and for the Visual Merchandising Team.?With the technical and creative support of Michelle Perez, all training manuals for the new system were customized and completed soon after, just in time for a new hiring phase for WH|BM.?Kevin, of course, was still there, still urging us on, still coaching, still serving as the calming voice, still adding his brand of humor and his knowing grin.

In our careers to date, Kim Ng and I have never had the experience of working with a team like the one we had during this project.?It was a special leadership team:?congenial, like-minded, collaborative, level-headed, informed and sharp.?And moreover, we will always remember Kevin as a strategic member of this very special group.?

As consultants, we took the team to Sanibel Steakhouse to celebrate the completion of the project.?Kevin was there with us, toasting and laughing and retelling the moments of perceived anguish when none really existed.?And of course, having great steaks and desserts.

My time working with Kevin continued after WH|BM brought me on board as SVP for Business Operations.?We were expanding geometrically and experiencing major growing pains in the process.?Kevin always had time for an informal chat, a hallway conversation, or a meeting when one was needed.?He always had open-to-listen for all my requests, regardless of size or scope, during my time there.?Gary King was now CIO and Carol Scalzo continued with WH|BM, always taking her place in our Executive Committee Meetings, entitling her presentation at an annual strategic planning meeting with Scott and Charlie as “Sexy IT”, and often attending product meetings to ensure that Kevin and she were delivering the intelligence that was critical to our geometric growth.?

When I look back on this time in my career, it truly was Camelot.?And, it was people such as Kevin who made it that way.?If it wasn’t for a few board decisions, I think it could have and would have continued.?And, I think we all would have still been there.?I have often wondered what the end result would have been if the incredible team assembled back then were able to continue for another ten years or more.?Despite the board decisions, I was pleased to have remained in contact with Kevin after our time with Chico’s.?Kevin contacted me a few years ago regarding assistance in helping his daughter find a job in retail.?I told him at that time that I would be happy to help as best as I could with the contacts that I have, but also exclaiming, “Are you sure you want your daughter to go into retail??!?”

_________________________________________________________________________

The roundtable of senior operating executives at our Camelot in Fort Myers, Florida had no egos to be stroked, no extreme personalities to be calmed, no “know it alls” at the table.?We had intellect, talent, experience, a common goal, cooperation, respect for each other and a lot of “open to listen”.?We were a well-tuned, well-oiled machine.?And we had Kevin McIntosh, our knight at the roundtable for Intellectual Technology, our partner, our provider, our friend.?The Right Person for the Right Moment.?The Right Person for the Right Time.?The Right Person Forever … now forever in our memories.

November 2, 2021

Rod Olson and Kim Ng

Olson-Ng Retail Consulting Group

www.olsonng.com ?

?

?