Eddie Bauer Inc. is an American based premium specialty retailer with annual sales in excess of 1 billion USD selling high quality casual sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and gear for both men and women. Products are distributed for sale to approximately 370 Core and Outlet retail stores in the United States and Canada, catalogs, and online sales at www.eddiebauer.com.
For its business Eddie Bauer Inc. needed a partner that was able to provide sourcing options, to meet and exceed the customer's need of premium quality, to encourage the in house product development and to maintain the on time delivery.
This partner is Eddie Bauer International (EBI), a buying agent that was created in 1994 to service the sourcing needs for Eddie Bauer Inc. It has been their primary buying agent ever since. EBI is a 100% subsidiary company of OTTO International. To best understand the portfolio in which EBI serves, it is important to take a close look at its client Eddie Bauer Inc. In addition to the US based business, EBI also services their Joint Venture partners in Japan and Germany through similar channels of distribution.
To best meet the needs of this multi-national, multichannel specialty retailer, EBI is centrally located in Hong Kong for easy communication and consistent execution. Through a network of off shore Key Account teams as well as placement through the OTTO International global sourcing network, EBI performed all demands of Eddie Bauer Inc.
As worldwide conditions change as well as the business needs of Eddie Bauer, EBI is able to adapt quickly to meet their new requirements. Eddie Bauer and EBI have established synchronized workflow processes and approvals to meet both their stringent quality requirements and support the creative needs of in house design and development. In addition to the more traditional buying agent roles, EBI has built a stand alone inspection facility to provide enhanced quality audits, certified in-house auditors for labor compliance and supply chain security, education, training, and approvals; customized vendor payment program, and shares its own in house reporting and tracking system.