5151 San Felipe, Ste 2050 Houston, TX 77056
(713) 358- 5400
info@getchoice.com
getchoice.com
At Home is an American big box retail chain specializing in home decor products. The specialty retailer’s stores eachcarry over 50,000 unique items across broad product categories including furniture, garden, home textiles, housewares, patio, rugs, seasonal decor, tabletop decor, and wall decor. In August 2016, the company went public. As of October 22, 2019, it operated 213 stores in 39 states and planned to add at least 400 more. The average store is 110,000 square feet.
GETCHOICE! and At Home’s relationship started over a decade ago (2007), when at that time the home décor store was known as Garden Ridge. Emerging from a recent bankruptcy, Garden Ridge was struggling with credit concerns, which impacted energy procurement pricing and contract terms. Later as the retail chain grew and rebranded under the At Home name, the company needed help with its aggressive growth strategy. Help was needed in the opening and closing of energy meters at each location. Additionally, At Home needed improved access to their energy bills to expedite bill processing and provide insight to cost & usage data..
From the onset of the partnership, GETCHOICE! has shown significant energy procurement savings. The initial project in 2007 captured $300K in annual savings for Garden Ridge’s Texas ERCOT load. The savings continue today, as GETCHOICE’s access to wholesale markets has captured over $850K in contractover-contract savings over the last 3 years.
As At Home grew, so did GETCHOICE’s services. GETCHOICE! was able to provide At Home a dedicated utility concierge to manage all communication surrounding new meters, contract start dates, and energy procurement opportunities. Additionally, the implementation of GETCHOICE!’s in-house utility bill management portal (GET: Smart Management Technology) provided a streamlined process for Account Payables, while at the same time providing additional reporting metrics for the 200+ locations.
Previously waited till contract expiration to perform energy RFPs. Credit concerns limited opportunity while under the Garden Ridge name. Limited focus on natural gas
Aggressive growth strategy required new utility account setup and meter installation for electricity, natural gas, and water. Limited in-house knowledge to perform function.
Utility invoices were being sent via mail directly to Corporate Headquarters for processing. Short turnaround time for payment (10 -15 total days).
Although At Home Stores had a centralized payment process, the accounting team was not recording all invoice data points such as energy usage and demand.
$850K
Previously waited till contract expiration to perform energy RFPs. Credit concerns limited opportunity while under the Garden Ridge name. Limited focus on natural gas
Aggressive growth strategy required new utility account setup and meter installation for electricity, natural gas, and water. Limited in-house knowledge to perform function.
Utility invoices were being sent via mail directly to Corporate Headquarters for processing. Short turnaround time for payment (10 -15 total days).
800+
ACCOUNTS
Although At Home Stores had a centralized payment process, the accounting team was not recording all invoice data points such as energy usage and demand.
