One of the driving forces behind Tango’s position as an industry leader in store lifecycle management and integrated workplace management systems is our incredible team of professionals. Devon Wolfe is a Senior Vice President of Analytic Services, directing the data analysis and modeling teams at Tango in building custom models for sales forecasting and market optimization. Devon also works directly with clients to understand their business needs and how Tango’s analysis and software can become a vital part of their decision-making framework.
Let’s get to know Devon and discover what makes him one of #TeamTango’s best and brightest.
You have over 30 years of experience in retail real estate analysis. What do you enjoy most about working in this industry?
I’m a human geographer by interest and training. That means that I want to understand how people behave in terms of place. So, what I love about this industry is being able to assemble this information about place: consumer movements, traffic patterns, demography, and many other variables, and being able to discover and explain why people are doing what they are doing. For me, it’s a process of discovery.
What’s an accomplishment you’ve had at Tango that you’re particularly proud of?
I think I’m most proud of the innovations our team has made using better data and techniques to arrive at better answers more quickly. Mobile data has been a revolution for both us and the industry, and machine learning modeling has been as well. I’m also proud that our team has embraced and capitalized on these enhancements to provide better answers to our clients.
After the COVID-19 pandemic closed many retailers, you were part of the team that brainstormed the free portfolio offer. What was the thought process behind that?
There are a ton of COVID trackers out there. My thought was, “What can we do that is uniquely suited to retail customers—something that someone else isn’t doing?” And so, I looked at the data and realized that it’s very hard to come up with any retail trends looking county by county—after all, there are over 3,000 counties in the U.S. We decided that we could create a portfolio view of COVID impact by weighting the incidence rates of COVID across the chain. At a glance, you can see which brands are affected more or less by COVID over time, and how they compare to their competitive set.
How have you adjusted to working from home with all the distancing guidelines in place?
Fortunately, I have been a remote worker for 8 years now, so there has been no major adjustment for me since all this as started. I understand the frustration for first-timers though, establishing structure and routine as a telecommuter takes a good deal of effort and practice. One thing I do miss is the monthly visits to our Dallas HQ and seeing our fantastic team there!
Since you regularly work from home, what are your tips for first-timers?
If possible, have a dedicated workspace in a separate room of the house. When I started working from home, I converted a bedroom upstairs that used to belong to one of our kids into my office, and I made sure to put my desk near the window so I could get natural light and a breeze from outside. When I’m there, I’m at work. When I’m not there, I’m not. That creates a definite separation between work time and personal time.
What do you and your family do to keep things fun around the house?
My kids are all grown and out of the house (although my daughter will be coming home next week from college). We’ve spent our time at home playing board games, catching up on binge-watching, walking the dogs, and working on the yard. With no outside schedule right now, we’re way ahead on flowerbeds and spring cleanup compared to most years!
We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Devon, one of #TeamTango’s world-class professionals.
If you are a retailer that is currently using a traditional location model, get in touch and we can show you how Tango can help prepare you for the post-COVID world and beyond. Also, check out our COVID-19 Retail Location Benchmark tool here.