1. May/June 2015 RETAIL-MERCHANDISER.COM 49
BROOKSTONE 50 | LUXOTTICA 53 | VIKING RANGE LLC 56
Luxury Retail
“We can take any idea, start the launch here, then
take it overseas to our manufacturing environment
and ultimately bring products to market.”
– Tom Via

2. F
or CEO Tom Via, leading the successful
turnaround of retailer Brookstone is more
than just mere work.“It’s my most recent pas-
sion,” the 37-year veteran of retail declares.
Based in Merrimack, N.H., the specialty retailer
offers functional and distinctive products, including
outdoor furniture,electronics,bath and spa products,
and fitness accessories. Its recent additions include
the BodyForm Foam Roller, which helps achieve
faster muscle recovery after an intense workout.
“When people think about unique and innova-
tive products, they think of Brookstone,” Via states.
“They think of gifting a great product.”
Brookstone started operations in 1965 and today
has more than 200 retail stores in the United States
and Puerto Rico, located in shopping malls, lifestyle
centers and airports.But,in 2014,the company went
through bankruptcy before being acquired by the
Sanpower Group, a Nanjing-based conglomerate,
which tapped Via to resurrect it.
“I was to turn it around and expand it both domes-
tically and globally,” he recalls. Via had experience
with other major retail chains, including Toys”R”Us
in Canada and Australia, and Babies”R”Us in the
United States.
Digging In
When Via arrived at Brookstone, his initiatives in-
cluded a multi-tiered plan for the business that would
set the table for a “new Brookstone.” “The strategy
itself started with product and innovation, which is
really what Brookstone is all about,”he declares.
The company celebrates its 50th anniversary this
year, making it the perfect time to “dig into the
product ranges, the innovation and newness that we
bring to the market,”Via says.“[We also had to] es-
tablish what Brookstone is going to stand for as we
go into the next decade.”
This included looking at how the company could
improve its innovation pipeline,“which is really where
our merchandising starts looking at the marketplace,”
Via says. “We’ve been in talks with the crowd-fund-
ing arena [about] how we access their leverage to
inventors and develop partnerships so we ultimately
bring those [products to] market at Brookstone.”
The company has developed “Launched at Brook-
stone,”a venue for new products from inventors and
other sources. With the use of its own lab, “We can
take any idea, start the launch process here, then
take it overseas to our manufacturing environment
for production and ultimately bring products to
market,”Via says.
50 RETAIL-MERCHANDISER.COM May/June 2015
Luxury Retail
BROOKSTONE
Business BoosterCEO Tom Via helped Brookstone rise from bankruptcy in time for the specialty retailer
to celebrate its 50th anniversary. BY ALAN DORICH
Tom Via, CEO
www.brookstone.com
Merrimack, N.H.
CEOTom Via helped Brookstone regain
success with a strategy focused on
product development and innovation.

3. One partner for the company is Fitbit Inc., which offers
watches that can measure its wearers’ heart rates and count
the number of steps they take. “We were one of the first
retailers that shipped this great product,”Via says.
Expanding Its Horizons
Via’s strategy also includes e-commerce and omnichannel
retailing, which are areas “where Brookstone has great po-
tential,” he says. Although the company had maintained a
website for many years, it has room to grow.
“We have a very robust e-commerce business, but it’s very
much ‘buy online and we’ll ship to your home,’” Via says.
“We have to expand our horizons and allow the customers
to shop however they want.”
Although Brookstone customers do not have the ability
to buy products on its website and pick them up in stores,
“We’ll have that in 2016,” he predicts. “The long-term goal
... is to become an omnichannel retailer.”
Year of the Customer
Via also performed research on Brookstone’s client base. “I
needed to know a little more about them,” he recalls. “It al-
lowed us to build the company and merchandising strategies
as an offshoot of that research.”
The company found that it has a significant number of
shoppers under the age of 35. “That’s pleasing and promis-
ing for our business,”Via says.“Every retailer strives to have
those younger customers.”
Brookstone also established “a customer-championing”
committee so it could identify points where it could make
shoppers’ lives easier.
“We’ve chosen to make 2015 the year of the customer at
Brookstone,”Via declares.
The company also is evaluating its call center practices
to ensure “we’re providing top-notch service [and the] in-
formation that our customer is calling for,” he says. “Often,
that’s for more product knowledge.”
At the Core
Via’s strategy also includes fixing Brookstone’s core. “That
really relates to technology and where we are,” he describes.
“We’ve done a very deep dive into all the technology aspects
of business, systems, procedures and analytics.”
Additionally,Brookstone needed to raise its financial acu-
men. “We’ve established a business intelligence team that’s
allowing us to use both big data as well as other analytics
techniques to be more focused and fact based in our deci-
sion making,”Via explains.“We needed to bring an elevat-
ed level of analytics in the business. The environment that
we as retailers compete in today requires that we operate
with precision.”
Progress Pride
Via’s approach has worked well for Brookstone. “I’m pret-
ty pleased with the progress,” he reports. “We’ve begun to
fill the product pipeline, [and] we’re in test-and-learn mode
now with some new things.”
“So far this year, we’re ahead of our plans and we’re start-
ing to see the fruits of our labor,”he says.“I’m very proud of
the team we’ve attracted here at the leadership level.”
He adds that the company has successfully moved into
the wholesale arena with clients that include Bed Bath &
Beyond Inc. “We have proven that the Brookstone brand
can sell well in other environments,” he says. “We’re excited
about what we see for the potential of our wholesale busi-
ness not only domestically, but internationally.”
He sees more growth ahead for the company. “Once we
get this omnichannel piece figured out, that’s going to be
a booster to our brick-and-mortar business in the United
States,” he predicts.
“The synergy of all these strategies coming together is go-
ing to lift this brand up,” he says. “Innovation and products
are really the heartbeat of everything that we’re doing. This
is a great time for me and anyone else to be at Brookstone.”
He sees more growth ahead for certain products, includ-
ing drones. “Brookstone has a market-leading position in
drones, and we’re going to continue [growth in that] space,”
he says, noting that he also sees potential in robotics.
“Part of the Brookstone legacy is to have cool tech gad-
gets,”he says, noting that he is looking for products with an
app aspect. “There’s got to be a current, cool factor to bring
it into Brookstone.” O
52 RETAIL-MERCHANDISER.COM May/June 2015
Brookstone