Our History

iControl was formed in 2005, originally as an integrated subsidiary of The Current Companies, a family-owned and run distributor of magazines, books, fresh flowers and newspapers to retailers in over 30 states.  iControl was formed to relieve the frustration of and to assist retailers in managing complex, data-intensive DSD categories – like the very ones The Current Companies was involved in.  

 

These categories were (and are) complex for retailers because they typically involve a huge and unrelenting number of item file and pricebook updates, and a large number of very small vendors with a tendency to turn over frequently.   These were categories that, in the words of one frustrated retailer, were seemingly futile to try to manage because they were the business equivalent of “shoveling snow off your driveway in the middle of a blizzard; as soon as you clear a path, you have to start all over again!”

 

The concept behind iControl was the brainchild of Tal J. Zlotnitsky, the company’s chairman and C.E.O;  but it was T.J.’s brother, the company’s president Sean Zlotnitsky, who engineered, designed and wrote the code for the core technology that supports the iControl System until this very day.

 

Starting with the newspaper category at a national bookstore chain, the Zlotnitskys and a cadre of smart executives lead by COO Bill Harris, CTO Gilad Keren and CMO John D’Aloia, built an innovative, and multi-faceted system that empowers retailers to realign the balance of power along the supply chain in complex DSD categories.  

 

As a result of its innovation and business model, iControl has attracted the best run, most responsible and forward-thinking retailers in America.  In February 2009, the Zlotnitsky brothers sold The Current Companies to The Hudson News Company, to focus full-time on iControl – by now a stand-alone company.  The company promptly doubled its gross sales, which now approach $200 million in sales under management.  The iControl team has now grown to 47 U.S. based associates operating out of 8 states, along with a 31-person data entry team in China.  The numbers of retail doors serviced by iControl grew from 521 in 2005 to 17,831 as of March 2010.  Doors are expected to surpass 20,000 by June 2010.  

 

Today, iControl is the largest provider of data aggregation and accounts payable consolidation services to retailers in the U.S., and is especially dominant in consolidating payables and data in the newspaper category.  Among its esteemed list of clients, iControl counts national contracts to manage all of the stores of CVS, Safeway, A&P/Pathmark, Ahold USA’s Stop & Shop and Giant Food divisions, and Barnes & Noble, among many others.  It also manages 9 divisions of Kroger.