St. Louis startup launches with Springfield investor money

Armed with startup capital from the Springfield Angel Network, St. Louis-based Aisle411 launched a new service at a Springfield Price Cutter last week.

Consumers can call a toll-free number - (877) 247-5341 - from their cell phones and ask for the specific location of store products. A response is sent via voice or text message. The Aisle411 service also sends coupons and other offers to callers.

The Price Cutter Plus at National Avenue and Republic Road is the first Springfield retailer to sign on for the service. Aisle411 initially launched the service at Ace Hardware near St. Louis in August.

The idea, according to Aisle411 CEO Nathan Pettyjohn, stems from company research that shows more than 20 percent of shoppers leave stores without everything they wanted to buy.

Founders Pettyjohn and Chief Operations Officer Matthew Kulig received business advice from Drury University's Edward Jones Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, as well as an undisclosed capital investment from the Springfield Angel Network to launch the program in Springfield. Pettyjohn is a Drury alumnus.

Retailers pay an undisclosed amount to Aisle411 to offer the free service to consumers. The company also receives revenue from stores and vendors who pay for advertisements and promotional messages.

Price Cutter Store Manager Matthew McDowell said the system enhances the customer experience.

"If I'm in another (store), I'm the type of person that doesn't like to go up and ask where something is," he said, noting that the system is not meant to replace personal interaction with store employees but rather to offer another customer-service option. "For a person like me, it's cool to just dial it up and go. There are so many items in the store, so it's like having another employee on the sales floor."

Tom Singleton, executive-in-residence at Drury's Edward Jones Center and one of the founding members of the Springfield Angel Network, was the lead investor among six network members who chose to invest in the St. Louis company. Pettyjohn and Kulig pitched their idea to the angel investor group earlier this year.

Singleton, who declined to disclose how much he invested and is not aware of how much other investors contributed, said he was impressed with the founders' confidence and knowledge of their product. He intends to use it.

"I go into a big-box store and I'm blown away by all the inventory and the space in there, and I don't know where to start," Singleton said. "Time is of the essence right now with the American public, and considering the fact that people leave a store out of frustration and retailers lose sales because of it, I thought (this company) was a great idea."

It's that acceptance of the idea that has Pettyjohn thinking big. The duo plan to take the company national in multiple segments of the retail market.

"We'd like to have 600 retail locations by the end of the second quarter of 2010, under agreement to launch the service," Pettyjohn said, noting that other Ace Hardware stores in other parts of the country have expressed interest. "With the people we're talking to now, that's definitely possible."

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