One on One with Alvarez & Marsal's Tom Phleps

With the holiday shopping season in full swing, retail businesses are at their busiest. This year, with six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas than usual, retailers are looking to leverage technology and earlier-than-ever sales events in an attempt to get their wares in customers' hands. Unfortunately, the boom time on Wall Street has been slow to reach Main Street, where many people are trying to stretch their holiday dollar further than ever. Alvarez & Marsal recently integrated the team from ClearLine, a boutique firm with whom they have a longstanding working relationship, to enhance their retail offering. Former ClearLine CEO and newly minted A&M Managing Director Tom Phelps sat down with Consulting to offer his insight about the merger and steps retailers are taking to avoid a stocking full of coal this holiday season.

Consulting: Why the timing for the merger and what are some of the early goals?

Phelps: Over the past 5 years we have seen the shift from Retailers implementing EPM point solutions to taking a more holistic approach that addresses the entire spectrum of both operational and management processes in an integrated manner. As a part of A&M, we now have the breadth and depth of skills required to deliver these fully integrated, high value, transformational initiatives. The rationale behind the merger was to combine very complimentary skill sets, allowing A&M to address more complex problems for our clients, and providing expanded career opportunities for our consultants. Our short-term priorities will focus on ensuring the successful integration of ClearLine staff into the A&M culture, continuing to enhance the skills of our consultants and embracing the full range of services A&M has to increase the value we provide our clients.