Harlem Furniture is steeped in history. Named Harlem Furniture because of its flagship location on Harlem Avenue, the company was founded by Sam Berman in 1912 in downtown Chicago, where he sold furniture door-to-door. The retailer sells furniture by the room at a discount and operates nearly 25 retail stores, primarily in Illinois, under The RoomPlace banner.
Private equity firms Pouschine Cook Capital Management, Bear Growth Capital Partners, and Mercantile Capital bought a controlling stake in Harlem Furniture in 2005. The move eventually spurred a change in the executive suite. In November 2009, founder Berman's grandson, Bruce, left as president and CEO; he remains on the board and as a shareholder.
OSI Consulting, Inc. announced that The RoomPlace at Harlem Furniture has selected Oracle E-Business Suite solutions with OSI Consulting retained as the implementation and integration partner. Leveraging Oracle's E-Business Suite, The RoomPlace expects improved functionality and integration creating overall efficiencies to drive operational excellence and company growth.
"With an eye towards expansion, the company's organic growth can simply not be sustained without automation of our current manual processes," explained Michelle Pacynski, CIO of The RoomPlace. "From a business-case perspective, this move allows us to support revenue growth, create asset efficiency, and enable improvements in operating margin."
OSI Consulting will implement Oracle E-Business Suite in a phased approach to mitigate disruption to The RoomPlace business. The defined solution will provide an integrated solution connecting the retailer's point-of-sale systems to back-office functionality, creating a more efficient customer buying experience. "In addition to demonstrating a deep knowledge of the Oracle solutions, OSI has specific retail industry experience," said Pacynski.
