People don't go into retailing to be financiers. 

• They love the merchandise they sell, and/or they love the people who buy the merchandise. (Think book stores, sporting goods stores, gift shops, etc.) 
• Others love the "theater", the excitement of retailing. 
• Still others want to be their own boss. 

But few are attracted to the financial part. Which is exactly why The Retail Owners Institute website has been built!

• The ROI explains why financial tools are necessary, and how they are critical to the success of a retail business.
• It educates on the critical financial factors that control retail success: controlling profits, debt, inventory, and especially cash flow.
• It provides easy-to-use – but sophisticated – financial calculators and tools that enable projecting and "what if…?" financial modeling.
• It allows practice in using the financial tools until it is second nature.
• It provides easy 24/7 access to the tools, data, and on-going education.

Or, in other words, The ROI enables any retailer, anywhere, to "Turn on their financial headlights!"

Patricia M. Johnson, CMC and Richard F. Outcalt, CMC
Co-Founders, The Retail Owners Institute®

Pat Johnson and Dick Outcalt, the Co-Founders of The ROI®, are recognized experts in strategic retailing.  Working only as a team – Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC – they have been consulting, publishing, and speaking professionally throughout North America. They focus exclusively on retail, or wherever retail is involved. They work with CEOs, CFOs, boards and owners of retail operations, as well as manufacturers or wholesalers expanding into retail, retail property owners or developers, equity partners, and lending institutions.  In addition:

• Their how-to articles on retail management have been purchased and published more than 1,100 times by trade publications from more than 40 separate retail niches;
• They have been retained by associations and organizations to present their concepts at conferences and trade shows, reaching more than 10,000 independent retailers;
• Outcalt & Johnson have been quoted regarding retail issues in Business Week, Time Magazine, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, as well as local and regional publications;
• And, on four different occasions, Pat & Dick have been invited by The National Retail Federation to speak at its annual international show and conference in New York City.

Pat Johnson is a graduate of Whitman College. Prior to founding her own strategic planning consulting practice, she was an officer of a national bank, director of a college news service, and co-published a national newsletter for practicing design professionals. She has served as a trustee of an independent K-8 school in Seattle.  Pat is a Certified Management Consultant, the highest accreditation in management consulting, and is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants and the National Retail Federation. 

Dick Outcalt is a graduate of Duke University, and earned an MBA in retailing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was an executive for a national department store organization, as well as the owner/operator of three independent specialty stores. He was president of both the Foundation for Private Enterprise Education and the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants, and also served as a national board member of IMC. He is a Certified Management Consultant, the highest accreditation in management consulting, and is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants and the National Retail Federation.

For more about Pat and Dick's work, see Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC; Retail Turnaround Experts; Business Strata:G® Solutions; Retail Startup.