BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Genius Central, founded in October 1999, is celebrating 20 years in business providing essential components of the supply chain to the natural and specialty grocery industry. Processing over $2 billion in orders annually, the company's mission to provide effective, high-quality, and affordable supply-chain technology and services to buyers and sellers is accomplished through their online and mobile solutions, including BUYiQ, SalesGenius, SupplierGenius, and others. Genius Central also offers EDI services to vendors and retailers, recently partnering with KeHE to provide EDI services as a part of their Digital Supplier Integration Program.
Genius Central was founded by four partners, including the husband-and-wife team of Linda and Jim Sheehan, who currently serve as the CEO and Senior Vice President of Operations, respectively. Having worked in retail for a full-service natural food store, they saw firsthand the need for technological support both in B2B ordering and web services. Knowing that many independent retailers would not have the resources to create these services for themselves, the Sheehans formed Living Naturally (now Genius Central) to fulfill those needs.
Originally focused on providing retailers with professional websites during the dot com boom, Living Naturally pioneered a precursor to BUYiQ by acquiring a fledgling ordering application, ScanGenius, and redeveloping it to become the first universal scanning application in the industry. Today that application is a completely mobile, web-based solution branded as BUYiQ. "Twenty years later, Genius Central is strong and growing because of our ability to adapt to the market," says CEO and Founder Linda Sheehan.
"Our products have altered the landscape of ordering in our industry," she continues. "We have a unique relationship with retailers and their suppliers and brokers. It consists of respect for their business models coupled with the willingness to provide a technical solution that benefits all parties in the supply chain. Our goal was not to disrupt or change the nature of the existing business relationships. Rather, we wanted to augment, support, enhance and add value to those business relationships."
Customers like Juno Raby, Chief Administrative Officer at Vitality Works, can testify to the added value to their businesses from automating orders through Genius Central. Raby says, "Genius Central provides a seamless, effortless solution to trading information with our business partners. With their services we get speedy and error-free order entry, timely invoicing, and accelerated payment. Trading via Genius Central has allowed us to grow 5 times larger over the past 8 years without added effort."
Of the continued momentum of the company, Jim Sheehan, Founder and SVP of Operations, says, "I'm extremely proud that this company is still growing after 20 years. There were ups and downs, but I'm very proud of what our company has become. To make it 20 years and still be helping the industry is a good thing."
The 20th Anniversary celebration kicks off at SOHO this weekend and will continue through the upcoming year, with an additional celebration planned for the Genius Central booth at Expo West 2020.
About GeniusCentral
Founded in 1999, GeniusCentral is a leading provider of enterprise retail and supplier order management, automation, and promotional software platforms. The company's mission is to provide effective, high-quality, and affordable supply chain technology and services to buyers and sellers. GeniusCentral serves a large network of independent and natural retailers, supports the largest natural product database in the industry, and processes close to $2 billion in ordering transactions annually. Contact us for more information at [email protected].
SOURCE Genius Central
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