Case Study: Chico’s FAS, Inc.
How Chico’s empowered its three-person facilities team to rapidly transform its 1264 stores
ServiceChannel
Highlights
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BUILT A SYSTEM OF RECORD for the facilities management team, which was then adopted by construction, real estate, and finance departments
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AUTOMATED THE WORK ORDER MANAGEMENT PROCESS helping store manages open tickets faster
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SAVED MONEY on repairs and new store construction costs due to a robust system of record
Quantifiable Results
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in savings uncovered by analyzing work order ticket type data across thousands of stores
“My job is complicated; the platform is what simplifies it.“
Lexi Lalo
Facilities Manager at Chico’s FAS, Inc
Background
Chico’s FAS, Inc. is a women-owned fashion company that was founded in 1983 on Sanibel Island, Florida, and provides “carefully curated selections” that millions of women say give them confidence and joy. Chico’s “Most Amazing Personal Service,” which requires store associates to be focused on delivering an outstanding shopping experience, is an essential element of the brand’s customer retention initiatives. “This is where facilities management becomes important,” says Facilities Manager Lexi Lalo. When a store associate is required to shift their focus from providing the exceptional fashion and styling service that Chico’s is known for to addressing a facilities issue, customer sentiment and sales are affected. Lexi, who is a former district store manager and used that experience to help shape her strategy for transforming Chico’s facilities operations, understands all too well the importance of overcoming this challenge.
Challenge: Scattered information was leading to wasted time and costly repairs.
Lexi’s indispensable three-person team is responsible for managing and executing facilities requests for 1,264 stores across 48 states in the U.S. They were encountering operational speed bumps that prohibited them from moving as fast as they knew they were capable of. Information was scattered in fragmented files and locations. As a result, they couldn’t confirm essential details like when the last time a piece of equipment was looked at, or if it was under warranty. In order to change this, they needed:
- A system of record for visibility into the multiples layers involved with thousands of locations
- Access to actionable insights to take proactive measures instead of reacting to repairs
- An easy-to-use tool for store managers to adopt
- To free up their time to focus on strategic initiatives
Solution: A one-stop shop for all facilities operations and historical records.
Chico’s implemented the ServiceChannel platform to be, as Lexi puts it, “our past, present, and future system of record.” She invested in ServiceChannel’s cloud-based digital platform to manage work orders, invoices, and vendors. This is a system that the store managers can use to open work orders for issues such as a leaky roof. It’s also a platform that can be accessed by other departments, like construction, real estate, and finance, to view meaningful insights — such as the actualized costs associated with opening a new store — that can help them improve forecasts and manage budgets.
Results: Improved visibility, cost savings, and more time for customers.
Lexi’s commitment to using ServiceChannel’s platform to track everything for the facilities work streams at Chico’s has proven fruitful, with meaningful impacts such as:
- Uncovering $450,000 in savings by analyzing work order ticket type data across thousands of stores
- Reducing work order creation time among store managers by 50%
- A reduction in overpayment on construction costs as a result of having a system of record for budgets
