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| Business World Magazine |
November 2012
developing innovative, interactive and in-
tegrated marketing solutions. New store
owners are also immersed in training dur-
ing a 10-day, hands-on, session conducted
by Certified Master Picture Framer at FCI
headquarters in St. Peters, Missouri. Follow-
ing this training, Dahl says his team takes
advantage of current computer technology
to stay in constant communication with the
franchisees.
Likewise, technology underlies much
of the day-to-day processes within the store.
There is computerized point-of-sale systems,
digital catalogs of images, and on the cus-
tom framing side, stores are complemented
with equipment that allows them to rapidly
cut frames and matting to customer speci-
fication. FCI also facilitates an Online, E-
commerce tool called “Shopforart.com”. In
this way, whatever image or art work con-
sumers may wish to acquire, say, something
they can’t find on display at their local store,
it can be purchased online. These purchases
are then shipped, not to the customer, but
to the store closest to that customer. In turn,
that branch is provided with the profit from
the sale.
As economic changes have occurred
nationally, Dahl says FCI has been particu-
larly diligent in serving their franchisees, in