A jewel of a system: Fortunoff's image database wins RITA award

Fortunoff was named first runner-up for a Retail Innovation Technology Award (RITA) for its jewelry image database. The use of images enables buyers to identify and purchase similar items from different suppliers. The database already contains over 100,000 images and will eventually have one image for each of the over 300,000 skus carried by Fortunoff. Digital images of the jewelry are captured with a Canon RE650 video visualizer attached to a DEC PC and stored on a DEC 3100 MicroVAX image server, while a Canon CLC 550 color printer is used to print the images in reports.
A picture, as the saying goes, is worth a thousand words. For the jewelry business of Fortunoff, a seven-store chain of general merchandise stores based in Westbury, N.Y., pictures have [...]