Stage Stores' vision is to have no compliance violations on orders from suppliers and zero chargebacks, says Ken Lettre, vice president of compliance and supplier relations. Barring that, it wants any violation to occur only once. Lettre explains how Stage Stores is working to achieve those goals.

Stage Stores operates 850 small-footprint department stores across the country, including the Peebles, Bealls and Goodys chains. Gough Grubbs, senior vice president for distribution and logistics, explains why the company adopted a centralized distribution strategy and how that strategy is supporting corporate growth.

Stage Stores, which operates 880 small-town department stores under such names as Beall's and Peebles, has learned the value of having products delivered floor ready. Tim Duvic, vice president of distribution, explains how the company educates its suppliers on packaging and preparing orders for fast processing on receipt.