Vp Dmm Kids Apparel, Baby Gear & Toys resume example

Recruited by Nordstrom CMO to return to Nordstrom to lead the evolution of The Rack banner. Joined Nordstrom Rack as the VP DMM supporting stores and on-line in Kid’s, Lingerie, and Women’s Coats/Active/Swim businesses. Identified immediate opportunities to drive private brand in Kid’s and Lingerie, edit supplier base in Kid’s, and drive emerging Women’s Active business.

♦ In Kid’s, drove Private Brand to 20% contribution, replacing market labels, delivering exclusive product at higher gross margin.

♦ Conceived and implemented a planogram store model that standardized all merchandising flow and fixture requirements making it easy & simple for the stores to execute and for customers to shop.

Led the Kid’s merchandising team, over-seeing over $350M in annual net sales. Directly supported a team of 10 Merchandise Managers. Charged with developing the Kid’s merchandise strategy; driving the development and management of the flash event calendar; building strong market relationships to ensure continuity of product availability; and the on-going development of internal talent.

♦ Improved flash event productivity by 25% per event by driving key brands across all size ranges and genders. Elevated the daily merchandise experience to develop thematic events, with the expectation of two $1M events per day.

♦ Identified and implemented opportunities to improve the customer experience. In partnership with key suppliers, identified opportunities for consignment and drop ship, with the goal of ensuring delivery within 72 hours of customer order. Drove these initiatives to 30% of total Kid’s demand in 2015, vs. less than 10% in 2014.

Led the financial and merchandise planning responsibilities for $300M in Accessories and Home categories for Nordstrom stores and digital channel. Strategically partnered with the Merchandise Manager to build regionally relevant assortments that drove the Nordstrom modern customer opportunity. Partnered with the regional store teams to ensure sales, assortment and inventory alignment by location. In partnership with the digital team, ensured appropriate allocation supported the digital growth strategy.

♦ Identified significant volume opportunity in the 18-34 year-old customer segment. Partnered with the Merchandise Manager and key suppliers to develop an assortment and financial plan that supported this strategy. Drove an incremental $21M in volume at a margin rate of 300 basis points above the division average.

♦ Redefined and evolved the Home business from a one dimensional, basic bed and bath offer by introducing new categories in store and on-line. Partnered with corporate visual team on presentation of these new categories to create an in-store environment that was engaging and exciting to the customer.

Led the strategic direction for $350M Junior Sportswear and Women’s Swimwear businesses in 190 doors. Responsibilities included identifying long-term strategies to maximize both Macy’s brand strength as well as the regional “My Macy’s” Northwest specific opportunities; clear communication of this vision to the organization to build support and guarantee consistent execution; and on- going review of talent to ensure that the right people were in place to deliver maximum results.

♦ Developed an initiative built around an “edit and elevate” strategy to maximize Macy’s West core competencies. Implemented a key item strategy utilizing a style-out process and minimum presentation models to create critical mass and dominant presentations on the floor.

Drove consistent year over year growth & bottom-line flow through improvement across stores and online.

♦ Built strong relationships with the Planning organization to ensure consistent presentation of the merchandising vision in all Macy’s West doors.

Led sales, gross margin and seasonal planning for $85M in 55 doors. Coached Buyers to develop assortments that supported the needs of the customer, while achieving the financial objectives of the merchandise division.

♦Supported a team of 20 across buying and planning. Placed great emphasis on succession planning and identification of internal talent. Promoted a buyer to DMM.

♦ Worked with buying teams to identify, maximize and exploit big ideas through in-store presentation and marketing. Consistently led the corporation as the leader in identifying and directing a new idea or trend that would be adopted by the other divisions within Macy’s.

Key emphasis placed on working with the Planning organization to develop assortment plans that supported an overall strategy of in-stock positioning for key merchandise categories, key items and vendors. Consistent focus on jewelry and watch vendor case-line flow, fixture capacity and presentation models. Partnered with Planning, Stores and Corporate teams to quickly identify sales and gross margin opportunities.

♦ Identified and developed a 3 year Accessories Intensification Strategy to maximize results and presented this strategy to Senior Merchants within the organization.

♦ Developed strategic alliances with core vendors to include capital support, additional marketing, vendor coordinator support and exclusive product.

♦ In 4 years grew annual comp store sales by $16M