James E. Dion (Jim)
Jim Dion, founder and president of Dionco Inc. - Chicago, is an internationally known consultant, keynote speaker, trainer, author and one of North America's leading experts on consumer trends, retail technology, selling & service, retailmerchandising & operations. Jim started his retail career in 1964 in a men’s wear store in Chicago. He was appointed Store Manager in 1969. From 1972 to 1974 he was night Manager of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Chicago.
From 1975 to 1980 he was employed by Sears Canada where he started in Retail
Management in Richmond Hill, Ontario and moved to the Toronto Catalogue Center inan operating position. He was promoted to Buyer, Jeanswear and was responsible for
buying and marketing for 68 retail and 958 catalogue stores.
In 1980 he left Sears to become National Sales Training Manager for Levi Strauss.
During his time with Levi Strauss he developed one of the most advanced Sales
Training Programs in the industry, in addition to introducing a Just-in-Time inventory
system to Levi Strauss factories. From 1985 to 1988 he was Executive Vice President of Gilmore’s Department Stores in Kalamazoo, Michigan where he repositioned a 106-
year-old chain in a highly competitive retail environment.
Jim has taught at Laurier University and Ryerson University and the International
Academy of Fashion Merchandising and Design in Chicago. Jim is a regular speaker for the National Retail Federation (NRF) on Retail Trends, Technology, Inventory Control, Best Practices in Sustainable Retail and Store Management. He has authored the definitive retail selling manual titled “Retail Selling Ain’t Brain Surgery, It’s Twice As Hard.” In addition, he has co-authored “Start and Run a Retail Business” for Self-
Council Press and is the author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting and Running a Retail Store” for Alpha Books to be published in April 2008. (All books are available on Amazon.com.)
Jim consults with retailers large and small in the U.S. and in over 15 countries. He is a recognized expert in the North American PC market, a Microsoft Developer, and has experience with major retail system installs and numerous POS installs. Jim also
studies and evaluates new retail POS, EDI, merchandising systems and CRM software.
He was a judge for the Microsoft© Retail Developer Awards as well as a Judge for CIO Magazine Top 100. As well, Jim lectures and writes for numerous trade and national magazines on retail trends, technology issues and on the Internet and its use and misuse by retailers and manufacturers. He is a faculty member in the MBA program of Harley-Davidson University in Milwaukee. He has appeared on NBC, CNN Turkey, First Business and Fox News.
He graduated from Chicago State University (Illinois) BS and MS Ed. in Psychology in
1970 and 1971 and attended Illinois Institute of Technology Ph.D. (abd) in Industrial
Psychology and Marketing in 1976.
JIM IS THE PRESIDENT OF DIONCO INC., A RETAIL CONSULTING AND TRAININGFIRM THAT IS HEADQUARTERED IN CHICAGO.
JIM HAS AN EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND IN ALL ASPECTS OF RETAIL AS WELL ASOVER TWENTY YEARS IN CONSULTING.
JIM STARTED HIS RETAIL CAREER OVER 40 YEARS AGO IN A MEN’S WEAR STORE
IN CHICAGO. HE HAS BEEN A DIVISION MANAGER, CATALOG MERCHANDISER
AND BUYER FOR SEARS AS WELL AS NATIONAL SALES TRAINING MANAGER,
PRODUCT MANAGER AND MERCHANDISE MANAGER FOR LEVI STRAUSS. HE
WAS THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF GILMORE’S DEPARTMENT STORES IN
KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN WHERE HE REPOSITIONED A 106-YEAR OLD CHAIN IN A
HIGHLY COMPETITIVE RETAIL ENVIRONMENT.
HE HAS TAUGHT RETAIL AT NUMEROUS UNIVERSITIES AND IS A FACULTY MEMBER
IN THE MBA PROGRAM OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON UNIVERSITY IN MILWAUKEE,
WISCONSIN.
HE IS THE AUTHOR OF THREE BOOKS: “RETAIL SELLING AIN’T BRAIN SURGERY,
IT’S TWICE AS HARD”; “START AND RUN A RETAIL BUSINESS”; AND THE SOONTO BE PUBLISHED “THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO STARTING AND RUNNING
A RETAIL STORE.” (ALL BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.)
JIM DELIVERS KEYNOTE SPEECHES, TRAINING SEMINARS AND CONSULTS WITH
RETAILERS, ASSOCIATIONS AND CORPORATIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD,INCLUDING NORTH AMERICA, ASIA, AFRICA, EUROPE, AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH
AMERICA.
MACY’S, RITZ-CARLTON, WILLIAMS-SONOMA, MICROSOFT, DELL, SAFEWAY,
AND HUMMER ARE JUST A FEW OF THE MANY CLIENTS HE HAS WORKED WTH
OVER THE YEARS.
HIS SALES TRAINING HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE MOST
CUSTOMER-CENTRIC AND ADVANCED IN THE RETAIL INDUSTRY. HE IS ALSO A
RECOGNIZED EXPERT IN CONSUMER & RETAIL TRENDS, RETAIL TECHNOLOGY,
MERCHANDISING, STORE OPERATIONS, NEGOTIATION SKILLS AND
LEADERSHIP.
HE GRADUATED FROM CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY WITH A BS, MS IN
PSYCHOLOGY IN 1970 & 1971 AND ATTENDED ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OFTECHNOLOGY PH.D. (abd) IN INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND MARKETING IN
1976.
James Dion
300 w grand ave | ste 408 | chicago, il 60610
312.673.0187 tel | 312.835.5552 cell | 312.670.2250 fax | email: jimdion@dionco.com
| www.dionco.com