How An LP Manager Convinced Northern Tool & Equipment To Go With IP Video

By Bob Johns

July 2013 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

This LP manager was able to convince this 80-store tool company to go chain-wide with IP video by proving its business benefits throughout the company.

When Todd Gulbranson decided his company needed to upgrade its LP technology, he knew he would never get the money for DVRs based just on LP needs. This is when he decided to go with a grassroots push to leverage IP video and combined analytics for multiple departments.

Gulbranson is the corporate loss prevention manager for Northern Tool & Equipment. The construction tools and consumer goods company is a family-owned business run by Founder and CEO Donald Kotula. The Minnesota-based company started as a hydraulics shop in Kotula’s garage and has since grown into a $700 million retail and manufacturing business with stores in 15 states. The company employs more than 2,000 people who are trained in the company’s core values: Know your customer, provide value, act with integrity, empower the individual, be entrepreneurial, and have fun. Following these values has allowed the company to survive, and even grow, in a down economy.