About Us

While our doors have only been open since January of 1996, The Innovative Alliance has been a company in the making for many years. Heidi Wells, a Founder and the CEO of the company, cut her teeth in the book business as the Computer/Science Book Buyer at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado. The Tattered Cover is, and continues to be, a bookstore that both independent booksellers and chains use as a benchmark and from which many industry best practices are plucked.

And interesting side note to this story: Heidi met her husband Brad, a Founder and the President of the company, while working at the Tattered Cover. When Heidi left Tattered Cover in October of 1989 to assume the role of Buyer (then Director of Sales and Marketing, and then, ultimately, President) with a Denver based distributor of bargain books and magazines, her husband assumed the role of Computer Book Buyer at Tattered. Together, Brad and Heidi have over 40 years of experience buying, merchandising, and selling computer books. Their industry insights have been a major contribution to the growth of this company. As computer book buyers, they became familiar with and built relationships with key publishers, observed and monitored consumer-buying behaviors, and tested various merchandising activities to find the right formula for success.

After 7 years on the retail side and 7 years on the distribution side, Heidi was ready to start her own business. During the summer and fall of 1995, Heidi and former coworker, Kathy Iverson, started hammering out a business plan at a kitchen table. Support came in more forms and from every direction. As a member of TEC, an executive committee of CEOs, Heidi had the equivalency of a board of directors at her immediate disposal. She met monthly with 12-14 peers and one chairman who had previously done what she was about to do; start a business from ground zero. This sounding board was there to encourage her in, and advise Heidi every step of the way.

Support was also close at home. With his extended experience at the Tattered Cover, Brad was the missing piece to be added to the puzzle. Brad's style is a perfect compliment to Heidi's. When she says go, he says stop; the end result is somewhere in the middle. When she says I am going high, he says stay low; they land in the middle. When she says don't do it, he says do it; they do part of it.

Support also comes from publishers. They know Brad and they know he can be trusted to eliminate their overstock inventory safely and swiftly. When you are in the business and selling something you do not produce, you quickly realize you are only as good as your supply. Brad brings a diligence to the business of protecting the interest of his suppliers at all costs. With the help of brother-in-law Tim, Brad created an inventory management system that ensures in-print bargain computer titles cannot be sold into accounts who trade computer books. They also worked on a unique product slotting system to ensure prompt fulfillment of orders.

Last, but certainly not least, support also comes from customers. Customers were eager to give their business a familiar face. Heidi has sold to them before and gained a tremendous amount of loyalty. Buyers openly admit that computer books are a difficult category to manage and stay on top of. Knowing the experience backing Heidi and Brad, customers have been eager to rely on this husband and wife team to help them improve their category mix and their profits.

The team stretches beyond just husband and wife. Family, friends, and business associates were quickly woven into the equation. While Brad and Tim focused on procurement and logistics, Heidi and Kathy focused on marketing and selling. Veronica LaCrue, previously executive consultant to Heidi, played a key role in designing and creating an environmental culture to enable employees to grow and develop. Theresa Loomis was quickly on board to help sell and service the business as it started to flow. A feeling of friends and family has been maintained at the company and extends to all levels of the organization. Today, the company employs several brother/sister, mother/son, and mother/daughter teams with the original wife/husband combination.

A lot of thought has been invested into the naming of the company. Heidi and Kathy said they did not want a name that limited them to selling only computer books, thus the verb innovative seemed a logical choice. The word alliance was a direct result of a long standing philosophy of partners for life held by Heidi. It is the vision of the company to create business solutions and programs that ensure the employee, the client, the publisher, and end consumer all win.

The Innovative Alliance, Inc is a company dedicated to the growth and development of employees, the profitable growth of the bargain books section for customers, and the contribution of bottom line revenue for the publishers. Our core purpose is to do this while inspiring all of the people involved in the creation of this successful work environment by enriching their human experience.