Rob Lynch, CEO of OSH Speaks in Retail Channels Class
by Michael Vincent '06
left to right: Sandy Whitehouse, Prof. Kirthi Kalyanam, Curtis Abbot and Rob Lynch. In Dr. Kalyanam's Multi-Channel Retailing class Rob Lynch, shared his experiences working for OSH.
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On May 10, 2005, Rob Lynch, CEO of Orchard Supply Hardware, visited the students in Dr. Kalyanam's Multi-Channel Retailing class and shared his experiences working for OSH, the leading retailer for home maintenance and repair that emerged from a humble farmer's purchasing co-op. Lynch, having an extensive retailing background including companies such as Wal*Mart, Home Depot and Accenture Consulting, provided RMI students with both an informative lecture and interesting perspective on the retail industry.
Being a recent addition to the OSH team, Lynch spoke of the changes he plans to implement as well as how the company positions itself within the competitive market. In particular, he discussed OSH's value proposition composed of three aspects: service, convenience, and selection. From the service standpoint, OSH prides itself on having available, knowledgeable, and motivated workers in their stores. Being convenient means that their purpose is to make home improvement easy for their target customer, including anyone interested in maintaining, repairing, and improving their homes. Finally, the selection aspect involves having a selection of merchandise and brands that surpasses that of their prime competitors.
Besides these particular tactics, the most impressive idea that Lynch emphasized is that of delivering on a message. In order for a company to be successful in the long run, it must not only make promises to its customers but display utter dedication to satisfying those promises. As an example, Lynch sent tapes of the latest television advertisements to all of the OSH store managers in order to foster communication with the corporate sector and ensure that each retailer is equally dedicated to the fulfillment of OSH's promise of value and quality.
As a class member, I can attest to the effectiveness of Lynch's presentation. The concepts of positioning and differentiation that we studied intensively in class were echoed throughout the lecture. It is always helpful to see a real-life application of marketing strategies, as it effectively demonstrates how measures such as operating profit and gross margin are actually affected by management's decisions.
Lynch was also joined by two of his colleagues from OSH. Sandy Whitehouse, director of human resources, and Matt Shapiro, director of strategic planning, attended the class lecture and added helpful insight throughout the presentation. Another attendee was Curtis Abbott, an RMI junior, who is interning with OSH this summer.
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Retail Speakers on Campus 2005
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Michael Baldwin - Director of Planning, Gymboree
Mandy Bobele - Captain, Trader Joe's
Shannon Buscho - Senior VP of Planning and Distribution, Gap/Old Navy (Board Member)
Daniel Cano - Assistant Manager of Employee and Labor Relations, Macy*s West
Corey Cleek - Senior Manager of Internet Marketing, Ebay
Geoff Donaker - Director, International Category Management, Ebay
Mary Ryan Duffy - VP of Buying, Planning and Stores, Macy*s West
Steve Haro - Regional Vice President, Trader Joe's
Marell Jandacka - RMI Alum '00, Sourcing Manager of Furniture, Pottery Barn Teens
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Rob Lynch - CEO, Orchard Supply Hardware
Warren Mazer - Manager of Strategies and Integration, Orchard Supply
Cheryl Olinger - Divisional Merchant Manager, Gymboree
Kevin Sears - Director of Employee and Labor Relations, Macy*s West
Derek Seidewand - RMI Alum '94, Merchandise Manager, Wal*Mart.com
Ellen Shulman - Manager, Strategic Mindshare
Karen Snyder - VP/Store Manager, Macy*s West
John Strain - RMI Alum '90, VP of Total Customer Experience, Gap, Inc. Direct
Joe Tomaselli - Former VP of Global Apparel Sourcing, Nike (Board Member)
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