Alison Umbarger Email & Phone Number

Marietta, Ga, Us

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Business Manager with duties including, but not limited to the qualification of new suppliers, leveraging partnerships through strategy and innovation, and delivering a total product solution to home improvement and big box retailers. Additional responsibilities involve sales management, forecasting, marketing, and overall project process improvement.

Atlanta Metropolitan Area

Photographer serving the Atlanta area. Focused on family and real estate photography.

Atlanta, Ga

• Direct responsibility for P&L and all aspects of product categories that generated $140m+ in sales• Full accountability for managing the financial metrics including sales dollars, margin dollars and margin rate• Successfully navigated global manufacturing and supply chain constraints to grow category 2.5 times through the Covid-19 pandemic• Directed cross-functional teams to optimize safety product offering, including record sales of what became the number 1 SKU in the company, to retain customer satisfaction in 2020• Developed and actively managed strategic relationships with product manufacturers to drive continuous improvement in service performance and financial metrics• Highly skilled in the negotiation of all elements of supplier programs including rebates, COOP/marketing, trade discounts, payment terms, freight arrangements, and acquisition costs• Managed, coordinated and developed all aspects of program support for specified B2B product lines and identified opportunities for increased revenue through additions or revisions to product offerings, pricing, promotions, sales tools, and marketing• Led cross-functional teams, including inventory, demand planning, marketing, and sourcing to drive category strategy and maximize profitability• Monitored and analyzed internal and external business trends and financial data to create short and long-term strategic plans for two categories• Proactively monitored competitive landscape to ensure product line is positioned competitively in each market, identifying opportunities to enhance offering based on market trends and customer requirementsKey Accomplishments:• Secured ~$1m cost-out through a series of Product Line Reviews with major suppliers• Complete restructure of $10m hand tools category, including development and implementation of expanded Private Label Brands within Hand Tools

Atlanta, Ga

Manage category P&L to hit sales and profitability targets. Perform product reviews, including launching new assortments and develop pricing logic to optimize category performance. Partner with the Sales Team, Inventory, Marketing, Demand Planning and Manufacturers to execute merchandising strategies. Benchmark assortments against other Distributors and Retailers.

Atlanta, Ga

• Led team of 2 in managing Cold, Frozen and Hot Dispensed categories, valued at more than $77 million in sales a year, by identifying operational opportunities, maximizing profitability and working closely with operations teams to streamline processes.• Worked over 6 months to negotiate multi-brand, multi-year contracts with large multi-national corporations valued at more than $10 million a year.• Created long- and short-term strategies and projections based on analysis of weekly and monthly reporting and identifying strengths and weaknesses of the categories• Decision maker on product placement and promotions of all dispensed products; decisions made by weighing feedback and communication from Operations teams, as well as identifying previous successes and opportunities within the category.• Managed projects for new product tests, including final product selection, timeline creation, vendor and supplier communication with forecasts, communication with store teams and post-test analysis and planning.• Implemented a project to cut costs of cappuccino category, worth more than $4 million, saving more than $400,000 a year.• Communicated daily with members of Operations team to streamline information passed from the Store Support Center to the field teams.• Managed team of 2 direct reports, providing regular feedback, performance reviews, and conducting salary and bonus conversations.

Atlanta, Ga

• Led team of 2, owning the cold and frozen dispensed beverage categories, valued at $30 million a year.• Implemented a brand new inventory management process to maximize profitability of cold dispensed category, adding $2.1 million in margin per year. Led project from initial 3 store test, IT automation, training, implementation and rollout to 400 stores. Project included cross-functional QA, test, training and follow up with multiple departments.

Atlanta, Ga

• Managed project creation and rollout for new tool for stores to eliminate waste and increase margins by providing detailed information about what to cook at what time for the hot case. Oversaw IS development of new tool, from initial discussions to final testing. Organized rollout and training for all regions, including follow-up visits. Responsible for sending “dashboards” every week to track success of the tool and hold teams accountable for hot food sales and margin.• Worked closely with Category Manager on product placement and promotions of hot foods category, with guidance from the marketing and operations teams• Ensured category was operating at peak performance by analyzing daily and weekly reports, establishing close vendor relationships to facilitate open negotiations, and monitoring inventories and movement to ensure stores have access to product in a timely manner

Responsible for creating and sharing all communications to 500+ employees as well as most communications to Operations teams of 4,500+. Built brand and program awareness and support strategic initiatives across all departments.-Act as company photographer for community events and print publications.-Design, manage, and maintain an open communication policy and pipeline.-Funnel various forms of communication and feedback to and from the Store Support Center team (500+) and field teams (4,500+). -Ensure timely and appropriate responses and follow-up to all departments and executive leadership. -Create communications to ensure clear and consistent messaging.-Ensure each department communicates effectively throughout the organization.

-Created and developed explicit step-by-step instructions, including visual diagrams, to facilitate execution by multiple audience of two successful company-wide projects to reset tobacco products in highest visibility area of the stores -Assisted Category Manager on product placement and promotions of Other Tobacco Products by balancing feedback communication from Operations teams, as well as helping to identify previous successes and opportunities within the category.-Contributing participant in meetings in internal and external environments, which may include, but are not limited to: vendor sales and planning meetings, internal development initiatives, internal brainstorming.-Communicated daily with members of Operations team, including Managers, Supervisors, and store managers, to help streamline information passed from the Store Support Center to the field teams-Completed extensive research and developed a process for informing executive team of potential adjustments needed due to the FDA regulation of tobacco. Completing bi-weekly communicated updates to include any changes or upcoming hurdles that could affect Operations teams-Streamlined document storage process to facilitate easy retrieval for store personnel-Contributing Content Editor for Store Support Center newsletter-Composed “Daily Bulletins” as needed to communicate to stores regarding new initiatives, new products, changes to policies, etc.-Performed ad-hoc analysis daily

-Integral part of team of 2 that increased sales units 16%, sales dollars 20%, and margin dollars 15% in 1 year-Assisted Category Manager on product placement, pricing, and promotions relating to Other Tobacco Products-Coordinated with Operations Managers and Supervisors daily to help manage more than 250 stores-Part of a product category that was responsible for items that generate 30% of inside sales margin dollars-Provided feedback to vendors on marketing projects-Contributing Content Editor for Store Support Center newsletter-Analyzed potential profitability of incremental products-Organized two successful company-wide projects to reset products in highest visibility area of the stores

Planned and implemented on-site and radio marketing campaigns.

Honolulu, Hi

Bba, Marketing

Bba, Marketing

Education record