Michaels Stores Adds Connect3 to Promotional Software Mix

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Irving, TX-based Michaels Stores Inc., an arts and crafts retailer, signed a site license agreement with Pricer/Intactix to link its advertising, merchandising, and MIS systems using technology from the space and category management provider.

The license grants Michaels' corporate headquarters unlimited access to the Connect3 software solution, which integrates advertising and promotional information into Michaels' Retek system for forecasting and replenishment and automates the company's promotional planning system. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Adding Connect3 to our current system is a natural transition for us," said Michaels vice president of marketing and advertising Monty Reese. "We see it as the software solution that will allow us to streamline our promotional program, and we are looking to benefit from its unlimited versioning capabilities--these will save us on production costs and give us greater flexibility with our target-marketing."

Publicly held since 1984, Michaels Stores Inc. sells arts, crafts, framing, floral, decorative wall decor, and seasonal merchandise for the hobbyist and do-it-yourself home decorator. The company owns and operates 452 Michaels as well as 74 Aaron Brothers stores.

Connect3 Product Manager Bruce Blachford said that "Michaels is tying merchandising, advertising and MIS together, electronically, to share promotional information like ad copy and pricing information. That means that they are gaining accuracy and increasing time available for working and designing vehicles that promote their mix of products."

Connect3's output options include all types of printed media, the Internet, kiosks, signs, and multimedia CD-ROM catalogs, among others.