2. About Retail Solutions Founded in 2002 to provide professional advisory and consulting services for retail companies and banks, funds, private equity parties that invest in retail. An internationally committed team, specializing in retail and chain store retailing. Our team has: a strong background in retail operations, finance and supply chain having worked in high-level positions for blue-chip retail companies. hands on experience in various segments of chain store retail. This enables us to implement recommendations in all areas we consult and advise. extensive retail, financial, and operational experience throughout Central & Eastern Europe including Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Armenia, Montenegro, Ukraine as well as the UK, USA and India. developed proprietary products and methodologies in order to assist us to find optimal solutions. an extensive database of benchmarks, data, resources and contacts to compare performance and share with our clients. When helpful, we liaise and cooperate with a number of internationally experienced top tier retail professionals and consulting firms, including the big 4, to deliver quality services world-wide, without unnecessary high costs. Our team is composed of professional retailers that go a step beyond the typical consultant. 2
3. Overview of Services Our services are designed for Retailers, Wholesalers, Investors and Lenders. We offer services in 5 general categories: Big Picture Retail Retail Operations Financial Supply Chain Management Partnering We breakdown these categories into 24 product services. 3
4. Overview of Services Big Picture Retail Retail Operations Financial Supply Chain Partnering services which we offer 4
9. Our Proprietary Products Cash flow Forecasting Manage your Cash Order Tracking Manage your Orders Executive Cockpit Manage your business We have three proprietary products which we offer which help executives and investors understand their business from a top level and drill down into the massive amount of data typically produced by today’s retailers. 9
10. Executive Group ART VARTANIAN - General Director and founder of Retail Solutions has 18 years of retail experience with multi-national firms in the US, Europe and Russia, including 14 years in Russia, Central Europe and former CIS countries in senior management with companies such as Tesco, Kmart and Deloitte. He has a BA from Wayne State University Michigan and Certified Internal Auditor from Altamonte Springs, Florida. PATRICK HOPPER - Director with a broad financial background including management and restructuring of international multi-store locations. Experience includes Board Member of Tesco BV Holdings, Tesco Central European Projects Director, CFO for Tesco Hypermarkets Czech Republic/Slovakia, CFO Little Switzerland and various positions at Kmart US and Europe. He has an undergraduate degree in Finance from Duquesne University Pittsburgh and Masters in Accounting from Walsh College. JOSEPH SURAN - Director with operational expertise who was responsible for a number of company implementations, program rollouts including responsibility for regional and department restructurings throughout his career. Formerly Country Manager at Tesco Stores and Kmart Stores Central Europe. He has an MBA from Florida State University. ROB DEN OTTER - Director Supply Chain Specialist with 15 years experience in management and consulting roles in blue-chip companies in Central Europe and the CIS. Previous management roles include Supply Chain Leader for Deloitte CIS and Global Logistics Director for Gloria Jeans. He has an MBA from State University Groningen (the Netherlands). Associationsand Groups Our Senior Team 10
11. Our Team Partnerships GRIGORI NAZARYN PH.D. - Supply Chain -Managing Director for Fablog consulting operating in Armenia and the CIS markets. Our partnership enables Grigori to work under the Retail Solutions umbrella offering supply chain solutions to our retail clients. It also enables us to tap into the Fablog supply chain infrastructure for more complex retail consulting projects. Fablog-Consulting is a German logistics consulting and engineering firm specializing in logistics planning. IAN BRYAN Associates-(IBA) is a British, Czech and international team of architects and designers and our partner. Established in 1997 the company has carried out numerous retail interior branding‚ projects for various retail and non-retail companies working from initial concepts, through pilot studies to detail design and full fit-out. Private Label- We have experience in Germany, Europe and Russia with various experts that have private label knowledge that complements our team working under the Retail Solutions umbrella. This structure enables us to draw upon the experience needed that best meets our clients needs as we initiate a project. Category Management-Retail Solutions partners with various experts that have category management experience that complement our team working under the Retail Solutions umbrella. This structure enables us to draw upon the experience needed that best meets our clients needs as we initiate a project. Support MARINA SAKHAROVA - Consultant provides data mining, analysis, administrative support, translation, interpreting and assistance with deliverables. Marina has worked a number of projects for Retail Solutions and has also worked for Kamaz in Russian and for Syn Group international consulting firm in Vienna. SERGEI ZADOROZHNVI- Consultant and analyst: provides data mining, analysis, and assistance with deliverables. Sergei has worked a number of projects for Retail Solutions and is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, Czech and English. Sergei has a Bachelors Degree in Economics from University of Kyiv. 11
12. Employment / Advisory References North America Europe Russia 12
13. Sample Projects We have extensive experience and provided advisory services to the following clients: Mura Stores -complete company restructuring Henderson Stores - business process restructuring & cash flow model Vesch! Stores - inventory diagnostic and business review V-Lazer Discount Stores - strategy & diagnostic of entire retail operation Delhaize Grocery Stores - provided diagnostic review and training to management Renova Capital (Natur Produkt and Zdarovoye Lyude) - strategy development & retail diagnostic Zdarovoye Lyude stores - store merchandising & store layout EBRD(Krasnoye Koleso stores) - strategy and sales increase methodology Shintop Shops - strategy & diagnostic Baring Vostok Capital Partners (Nezabudka Discount Chain) - retail business diagnostic & training Eldorado - business process restructuring and management reporting Detsky Mir - valuations and multiples for retail companies world wide Furchet Grocery / Renaissance Capital - acquisition review and pre-due diligence Rosinter Restaurants - inventory management and logistics systems implementation 13
14. Recommendations ”My overall impression as well as BVCP Board of Directors opinion was very good of Retail Solutions abilities and experience.“ “Overall we found Retail Solutions to be professional who delivered on our expectations and was truly concerned to help us move forward. After the project was completed, they were cooperative with assistance when needed.“ ”I can say that BVCP would not hesitate to hire Retail Solutions once again in the future.” Vadim UzbergDirector of Investments BVCP Moscow, Russia “My overall impressions were that Retail Solutions is a very professional and knowledgeable retailer with broad international experience.“ “Retail Solutions provided a restructuring of part of our business. Overall, I can say that they are competent and effective in multi-store retail chains, which was apparent during this project.“ “I can recommend Retail Solutions to you for any retail industry related consulting projects.” Bruno MeyerCEO Eldorado StoresMoscow, Russia “Retail Solutions made a presentation to the Board of Directors of Natur Produkt Retail.“ “The recommendationswere especially useful in the following areas: Merchandising, Space utilization, product assortment and Store design, store economics.“ “Renova Capital is planning to use services of Retail Solutions in the future.“ Kirill Kuzmichev Investment Management Officer Renova CapitalMoscow, Russia “Thank you very much for this report. We truly appreciated your highly professional approach to this quite difficult assignment. I am sure we will hire you for many projects in the future.“ Almaz ToigonbaevPrincipal Banker European Bank-EBRDLondon, England 14
15. Recommendations I've been working with Retail Solutions since 2005. During this period, Retail Solutions has rendered its services to a number of EBRD generated leads in the retailing sector of the Russian Far East. Some examples of the project assignments included such activities as company screening, strategy evaluation, business diagnostic, due diligence and problem solving for underperforming stores. We can say that Retail Solutions has always proved to be a team of professionals. They travel intensively during assignments, work hands-on and closely with their clients, capable of understanding regional players and tailor global retail standards to the realities of particular companies and regional markets. It is important to note separately the excellent quality of their reports, which are always very focused, contain precise analysis and specific recommendations. Retail Solutions reports have proved to be an important instrument for an investor, as well as to follow up during the project design and project implementation stages. Elena Danysh Head of the EBRD office Russia Far East “Our client was very satisfied with the work of Retail Solutions consultancy and appreciated their approach and recommendations. A year after the project completion, company management admitted that the consulting project conducted by the Retail Solutions LLC delivered many interesting ideas for implementation and continued development. According to the consultant’s recommendations, the company opened 17 new sales outlets in 17 cities of Russia, worked out a single brand for the production and sales, substantially improved of product merchandising. These actions resulted in a significant rise of sales by 134%, and an increase of the annual turnover by 48%. Irina Takhteyeva National Program Director Business Advisory Services Program EBRD (EBRD) Vladivostok, Russia Visit our website at www.retailsol.comfor interviews and press reports on our company. 15
16. Why Retail Solutions? Extensive retail experience Executive level experience Hands on experience International experience Innovative Solutions We put together solutions that help your company increase sales, increase profit, and reduce costs. Our solutions work! 16
