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Reduce Shrink, Customer Theft, and Litigation Risk with Image Vault

Described as “one of the Midwest's best” by Convenience Store Petroleum magazine, Family Express owns and operates a chain of convenience stores and fuel centers in the Northern part of Indiana. Gus Olympidis, the President and CEO of Family Express, launched the company in 1975 with a single location in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Part of Family Express's core values focuses on building relationships with its customers by utilizing its "living brand." The Family Express living brand promises a genuine greeting, a uniquely friendly environment and a passion for customer service.
 
Additionally, Family Express is characterized by cutting edge technology at various venues of its operation. To that end in 2005, Family Express made the decision to explore innovative solutions to further the process oriented goals of reducing internal shrink, customer thefts, and litigation risk. Most c-stores use DVRs to impact these controllables at the individual store level. At this point, having used DVRs by Image Vault in a number of locations, Family Express looked for a way to take things a step further to really tie together their DVR solution and reap the benefits of it from a company-wide perspective.

Solution
Family Express needed a DVR solution that made it easier to manage risk, so in 2005 they made the decision to install Image Vault in all stores plus the central distribution center, and optimize the system to be used towards its fullest advantage. The selection process was thorough and detailed, but the business decision was not a hard one to make. According to Mike Berrier, Director of Operations at Family Express, “definitely the number one factor was the Image Vault unit’s reliability. You never want to have to worry whether a system is functioning properly. As for features and benefits, the most important aspect of the Image Vault is its ability to collect evidence.  The setup we have provides a very clear resolution, since we need high quality images if they are to be used in a legal setting.”

Another key feature that was very crucial to Family Express was the simplicity of the system. “Ease-of-use translates directly into efficient use,” said Berrier.  “Giving our managers and Field Consultants the ability to find exceptions quickly instead of searching through hours of video is crucial to being able to react to problems in a timely manner, and training a new user on how to operate the DVR usually takes under 15 minutes.” Another really interesting component of the company-wide install was an investment into PC terminals running Image Vault for all Store Managers, installed at their homes.

Berrier says, “We call this supervision without supervision, because it allows them to supervise without being there physically.” As befitting the entrepreneurial mentality at Family Express, Store Managers are heavily incentivized financially to achieve the highest levels of store performance. “Our managers are professionals and we empower them to succeed by providing the best tools with which to do their jobs and the WAN capabilities of Image Vault enable them to do this anytime and from any place.”

Additionally, Family Express’ Field Consultants (as well as Mr. Berrier) receive exception reports as they occur (as opposed to at the end of the day) via email to their Blackberry devices, enabling them to immediately investigate further, if warranted. 

Results
Another direct value-add is Image Vault’s ability to provide quality images to negate fraudulent claims of accidents and injury by employees or customers.  Berrier can cite “many cases that were dismissed in court because we had Image Vault.” The corporate culture at Family Express reflects CEO Gus Olympidis’ visionary outlook, which in turn drives an environment of innovation and differentiation. An innovation can be a new product, a new process, or a new way of doing business, and in this case the innovative usage of the DVR impacts Family Express right where it matters most: the bottom line.

Family Express deploys the Image Vault PRO-Command model. PRO-Command is the first retail DVR solution specifically designed to be administered at a senior operations management level that exists above and beyond LP, shrink and theft deterrence at an individual store.

To learn more about Family Express visit www.familyexpress.com

Information about Image Vault can be found at www.image-vault.com or by contacting Brandon M. Ring, National Sales Manager. Office 800-457-2424 ext 3535; Cell 502-777-4910; Direct 812-542-3535