Finish Line to roll out a pilot of Found`s inventory system to 50 stores

Sports apparel retailer Finish Line Inc. will roll out a pilot test to 50 stores of a retail information system that ties stores and finishline.com into a single inventory data base accessible in real time, Kent Zimmerman, director of e-commerce, tells Internet Retailer. The system, developed by Found Inc., allows sales associates in Finish Line’s stores to check merchandise in other stores or in a central inventory when the store is out of stock of an item a customer wants. "There are a lot of restrictions put upon us by floor space and product limitations," Zimmerman says. "We’re trying to get out of that by giving customers the opportunity to shop the entire company." Finish Line has not set a deadline for completing the pilot, although Zimmerman says that if it’s successful, Finish Line could roll it out to all 400 stores in 41 states within a year or two. "It’s a very complex project but something that will pay great dividends for the company," Zimmerman says. Found, of San Francisco, provides an infrastructure that allows retailers to tie all their inventory systems together and make merchandise available to customers through the web site, stores and warehouses and distribution centers.