September 19th, 2017

Huckberry Begins New Adventure with Centric SMB

CAMPBELL, Calif., September 19, 2017 – Huckberry, the men’s lifestyle company based in San Francisco, has selected Centric Software to provide its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to fashion, retail, footwear, outdoor, luxury and consumer goods companies to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Huckberry, which is described as “equal parts store, magazine and inspiration”, was founded by friends Andy Forch and Richard Greiner in 2011. They wanted to create a shopping and lifestyle experience for young men like themselves who lived in the city but had a passion for the outdoors. They bootstrapped Huckberry with their savings to bring a unique company to life. Huckberry is rapidly growing and curates a selection of apparel, outdoor gear, home goods and accessories from a variety of brands on its e-commerce platform to support the lifestyle of the urban adventurer.

In the early days, Huckberry depended on email and document sharing to communicate and build up product ranges. When Huckberry added a private label division, product development within the company exploded. It was time to invest in a digital solution that would support the needs of this growing business.

“We’re growing rapidly, we’re a small team and we all wear many hats,” says Rachel Metcalf, Development Lead at Huckberry. “Our private label division is particularly experiencing aggressive growth. From previous experience, I know that a PLM system is very important to make sure we stay consistent, avoid mistakes and maximize efficiency. Private label is quite new at Huckberry, but we got moving on PLM selection as soon as it became clear we needed a system to support product development.”

Huckberry decided to implement Centric SMB, a cloud-based PLM solution tailored for small to medium businesses.

As Metcalf explains, “I’ve used many PLM systems, but Centric has always been one of my favorites. It’s easy to use, easy to learn, easy to configure and roll out, and dependable. The support team are only ever a phone call away and will answer questions promptly – you don’t have to email random support websites. The system is very highly configurable and is as simple as turning on a button or clicking a box. Centric is not a rigid ‘one solution fits all’, but is easily configured to what each company needs yet no coding is required to get it to work the way you want it to.”

Richard Greiner, co-founder of Huckberry, adds, “Centric offers us a genuine partnership, rather than just a service. Huckberry is a young, creative and innovative company with a digital mindset and we are willing to invest in the right technology to support our growth goals. Centric SMB is the ideal cloud-based PLM solution for a company like ours and we know it will grow and adapt with us.”

“We would like to welcome Huckberry to the Centric family,” says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. “Huckberry’s online concept is much more than a standard apparel e-commerce store – it’s a whole lifestyle experience. We’re excited to be part of the growth of this innovative company, and we’re looking forward to seeing Huckberry grow in the future.”

Huckberry (www.huckberry.com)

Huckberry is an independent online retailer and magazine for adventurous guys.

Over a million strong trust us as their leading retailer and resource for emerging brands, gear, and lifestyle inspiration.

Huckberry was founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in Columbus, OH.

Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) is a visual, fully digital collection of boards for touch-based devices like iPad, iPhone and large-scale, touch-screen televisions. Centric VIP transforms decision making and automates execution to truly collapse time to market and distance to trend. Centric’s flagship product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality, and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB packages extended PLM including innovative technology and key industry learnings tailored for small businesses.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM in 2016 and Frost & Sullivan’s Global Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM Product Differentiation Excellence Award in 2012. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015, and 2016.

Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.