(PRWEB) February 1, 2006 -- Thatcher Technology Group, LLC, today announced that The Traveling Vineyard, a division of Geerlings & Wade, Inc. (GEER.PK), a direct-sales and marketing firm specializing in fine wines, has selected Thatcher Technology as a strategic direct selling partner. Thatcher Technology Group will provide their Prowess™ Software Solutions Suite to manage The Traveling Vineyard’s growing in-home wine tasting business. Prowess™ will manage their field wine tasting consultant force and incentive plans to provide business intelligence, scalability and flexibility for their growing direct sales company. Prowess will also provide a flexible and scalable “Personal Web Site” environment for The Traveling Vineyard’s consultant base.

According to Huib Geerlings, Geerlings & Wade’s Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, “We needed a way to take growth to the next level without restrictions and the ability to integrate all our systems on a common platform. With Thatcher Technology’s Prowess™ software, we are able to add and enhance technology and not people to manage our growth.”

Gordon Romer, CEO of Geerlings & Wade, added, “We chose Thatcher Technology Group because of their technology platform, integration, and incentive and commission engineering. The consultant field service interface is very flexible and the consultant personal websites will help us build a better environment for communication and sales.”

The Traveling Vineyard has originated in 2003 as a new sales channel next to Geerlings & Wade’s 20 year old direct marketing wine business. It is a home wine tasting experience giving participants more confidence in selecting and, in the process, increasing appreciation and enjoyment of fine wine. The Traveling Vineyard was designed with the belief that the best way to buy wine is to taste it first. Their wine tastings are free and done in the comfort of one’s own home with family and friends. For more information, visit their website at www.thetravelingvineyard.com

About Thatcher Technology
Thatcher Technology Group has over 25 years of creating and implementing software solutions that fuel growth in direct sales organizations. Prowess™ Software Solutions Suite is a powerful, scalable genealogy, compensation and incentive management system for direct and multi-level sales organizations. Prowess™ helps turn high-volume, complex sales activities into seamless, cost-effective processes. Thatcher Technology group is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Thatcher Group which also includes CardintheBox (makes the perfect gift even better with a personalized gifting solution) and Visual Impact Products (providing logo apparel and ad specialty items). The Thatcher Group was conceived in 1999 by Jay Christopher, co-founder of The Pampered Chef, one of the world's most successful direct sales companies. For more information, visit their website at www.thatchertech.com

Contact: For more information on Thatcher Technology Group, please contact Beth Peterson, (847) 931-9375.