In Systems They Trust

There is much to recommend true religion, particularly in difficult times. In this case, however, True Religion is an apparel brand that is building sales and expanding, domestically and globally, despite the current economic downturn.

Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lubell launched True Religion Apparel seven years ago, and his quest to provide high-quality, American-made, 1970s-inspired jeans and jeanswear has attracted a loyal following. With pocket flaps, intentionally twisted seams and multi-colored stitching, the jeans have a look that one company executive described as being “timeless, hippie, bohemian, chic.”

As to the name: Lubell says that, while there are many faiths, “there’s only one real religion, and that’s people. And all the people in the world wear jeans.” And more and more of them are wearing his jeans, along with several other categories like T-shirts, jackets and skirts as well as leather goods and a women’s fragrance. Price points for the merchandise range from $59 for a man’s T-shirt to $600 for a purse, with the median price being $200.

Driven by the appeal of its apparel designs and a loyal and star-studded (Kate Hudson, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez) customer base, True Religion Apparel expanded beyond its upscale base of retail customers that includes Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf Goodman to sell direct in its own True Religion stores. The number of True Religion locations quickly reached 45, and aggressive expansion plans call for another 20 stores by the end of 2010.

Net sales grew 55.8 percent to $270 million in 2008, and net income ($44.4 million) grew 59.3 percent.

Rapid growth doesn’t have to bring complexity and complications, but in this case there was a clear need to establish a solid, technical foundation to meet True Religion’s current needs and those that will become apparent as it continues to expand. More specifically, True Religion wanted to streamline its supply chain and financial operations and improve its inventory management.

The company chose the Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 to serve as “a foundation for wherever the business may go, to service wholesale and international customers and for our own retail presence, including e-commerce,” says John Dohm, vice president of IT for Vernon, Calif.-based True Religion.

“For us, this is a function of enabling growth. We are adding functionality so that we can be prepared for expansion as a company and a brand without limiting our choices because of issues like language, currency and international support,” says Dohm.

Oracle constructed the E-Business Suite solution “such that smaller companies can well afford the product and then, as they grow, they can change to different models,” says Richard Michalec, vice president, retail industry for Oracle. “Everything we do is about moving the levers on the [client’s] income and balance sheets in a positive way.”

Individual modules
Typically, new Oracle retail clients begin with individual modules like a business intelligence platform, a profitability manager, portfolio analysis, financials, human resources or advanced procurement and then expand department by department.

Oracle’s BI platform tracks sales trends in specific merchandise, among many other functions. The profitability manager provides an ongoing analysis of sales volume, margins and operating costs.

To expedite the installation, True Religion invested in an Oracle Accelerate solution, a pre-packaged application bundle supplied by DAZ Systems, a member of the Oracle Partner Network.

According to Michalec, Oracle’s clients can expect a return on investment “well within one year, and we have many projects in which we are getting things done in just weeks. In financials ... we have done things in three, four or five months.”