My CIO Career: Arthur Phidd, CIO at Reeds Jewelers, on the Transformation Principles that Work Across Industries

Over the decades that Arthur Phidd has worked in IT leadership positions, he’s witnessed the CIO role evolve from “the person in charge of keeping the lights on” to the executive next in line for CEO roles. Phidd himself has received his share of recruiting calls for chief executive positions in recent years. However, it was another CIO role — at family-owned Reeds Jewelers — that caught his attention.

Since taking on the top IT job in April 2020, Phidd set to work doing what he does best — launching a long-term transformation agenda and introducing a series of innovations that have won the Wilmington, N.C.-based company awards and recognition in the tech triangle and earned Phidd CIO of the Year 2023 from the NC Tech Association.

Phidd’s background as an IT leader encompasses stints in banking, telecom, gaming and the nonprofit sector, and he uses his varied experiences to lecture about leadership and other lessons he has accumulated, most recently at the University of the West Indies.  He spoke to The Heller Report in August 2024 about his deep involvement in business strategy, why a jewelry retailer needs a technology innovation lab, the portions of his transformation playbook that are applicable no matter the situation, and how he communicates with Reeds’ two (internal and external) boards of directors.

Stephanie Overby: You’ve seen the CIO role change dramatically since you first began working in IT. How do you define your CIO role today?

Arthur Phidd: My role exists at the convergence of technology and business. I spend a fair amount of time in strategy sessions with my peers thinking about product development ideas, marketing tactics, omnichannel digital strategies, cyber security frameworks, real estate strategies, whether we should roll out more stores, and — by the way — what the definition of a store should be.

In fact, I played a central role as a member of the “Store of the Future” team responsible for redefining what a store is for Reeds. We launched our first destination “landmark” in the summer of 2024. inspired by Disney’s destination “happy place” concept. It’s a jewelry store with experience zones, one of which is a social zone (aka a bar), and it’s doing quite well. We rolled out a mobile store: a well decked out Airstream that is often seen at outdoor events. That one attracts a lot of curiosity. We also designed a PODS (points of distribution and sales) store, inspired by FedEx and UPS stores. PODS are expected to be small footprint spaces stocked with a curated retail assortment while providing order fulfillment services for Reeds.com. The PODS store archetype allows us to project our brand into zip codes where we wouldn’t otherwise have a traditional store. And because the inventory is closer to the customer, we can offer same day pick-up at the store.

Pretty innovative stuff. Speaking of which, you established an innovation lab at Reeds. Why does a jewelry chain need an innovation lab?

We’re probably one of the few luxury jewelry companies with an innovation lab. I want to constantly look for ways to disrupt the marketplace and differentiate our brand using novel technology. We have been doing and will continue to do work with immersive technologies. We built out solutions using augmented reality, deployed two black Fridays ago, that enable you to go to Reeds.com and try on rings, watches, and — in time — several other products. We’re also researching spatial rendering and hologram technologies. As I said at a conference recently, if they can use a hologram to bring back Tupac, I can use it to help shoppers experience an immersive interaction when looking at our assortments. 

When Reeds leaders hired you, what were they looking for? And what did you think you could bring to the organization?

Interestingly, I had just stepped down as CIO of Bridgehampton National Bank in New York to get away from the depressing COVID environment in New York in early 2020. We had moved to our home in Georgia when I received a call from an executive search firm. To be honest, I had no idea Reeds existed. And I never aspired to work in the luxury jewelry industry.

But the members of the internal board [the family owners] and the external board wanted to transform the company from being a traditional jewelry store to a fresh, energetic company that could speak to Gen Z, penetrate new markets and use technology to drive agility. And that’s exactly what I had done at the bank.

They wanted someone who had broad global experience, had a strong academic background and had been in trenches. And I thought driving the digital transformation of a jewelry company should be a blast. 

Transformation is your thing. Are there certain strategies that have been applicable across industries and throughout the years?

There are enough similarities that allow you to come in with a playbook and then pile on top of that those things specific to each company and its goals.

You must be a shepherd and cheerleader for change. You have to have a very, very thick skin. There are going to be those people — even people who requested the change — that, for their own reasons (fear mostly), will “circle the wagons, dig in and fight to the end” against the very things that they want. You have to understand that there’s a psychology to change and stay focused on the target and trust the transformation process. One of my favorite quotes (which you’ll find in my email signature) is "The Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stones." Left alone, human nature is such that we will actually wait to run out of stones before we change course.

It's also important to identify your key customers — the leaders who will benefit the most from the transformation program — and partner with them. If you make them happy, your life will be simpler. You also need to get extremely close to your suppliers – from infrastructure to application and professional services suppliers.

Most importantly, you have to understand that it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. There will be pushback for the first few years. Your role is that of a shepherd — not just for the IT division but your supply chain, companywide staff, your peers, and the board. When they go in the wrong direction, you guide them back to the plan.

Do you communicate differently to each of the boards at Reeds?

For the sake of consistency, I maintain a common communication approach indifferent to family or external board member.  At the end of the day, the board collectively sets the vision, direction, and tone for the organization and the transformation program.

I’ve used the metaphor of a house for a digital transformation roadmap. I laid out this seven-year transformation roadmap in a clear and easy-to-read diagram and presented it to everyone. It forces a common understanding of what we’re trying to do. This roadmap is reinforced as often as needed to ensure continued buy-in for the program.

You’ve touched on the challenges of transformation. What have been your biggest wins so far?

At Reeds specifically there have been several noteworthy wins. In late October 2020, with Black Friday around the corner, our Pitney Bowes platform was having issues and we suddenly were not able to print shipping labels for our online orders. It was mad panic. We quickly connected with a cloud service called ShipStation.com. I love their motto: We make ship happen. We were able to test and implement it within five days and saved Black Friday. ShipStation.com continues to be our shipping label platform.

Another example is what we’ve done to support the old AS/400 technology on which we’re so leveraged. We needed to mitigate the risk of not just a physical problem with the machines, but a hurricane given our location in Wilmington, N.C. We couldn’t find resources to support the code base and the machines, so we found AS/400 support as a cloud service. That reduced service disruptions and downtime and raised the quality of back-end services by enabling 24/7 support. It also immediately reduced the risk of service disruptions due to weather as the cloud service is hosted in a purpose-built environment.

A final example is reflective of our evolution to a data-driven company. We won an award for our enterprise data warehouse framework that brings omnichannel data in to help develop marketing campaigns and other strategies based on analytics. Our analytics platform was instrumental in the evolution of our real estate store expansion strategy. The use of data is now pervasive across all functional areas of our company.

You’re a fan of servant leadership. Why do you think it’s a good approach for a CIO?

Nothing matches the joy I get when I’m teaching classes. And I think a good leader must always be a good teacher. A good leader is not one with many servants but one who serves many. I apply that not only within a lecture hall with my students but throughout my career. As a CIO, my job is to create that petri dish in which those that I’m leading can flourish and reach their goals and aspirations. I see the CIO role as serving those for whom you are responsible.

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