Chrissy Gedeon Email & Phone Number

Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Led design innovation meetings with agency partner to determine new items for development and opportunities for growth.Travelled to industry trade shows including The Inspired Home Show (Chicago), Ambiente (Frankfurt), China Import and Export Fair (Canton) to research emerging trends, source new suppliers and foster long term mutually beneficial relationships with existing suppliers.Journeyed through China for four weeks visiting new and existing factory resources to determine suitability of the partnerships, develop new items and strengthen existing relationships.Travelled to the UK and Ottawa for buyers’ meetings with Costco and took ownership of the product trend and technical portion of the presentations to ensure a successful outcome.Implemented new operations for sample evaluations, standardizing the process and establishing accuracy and visibility across all teams.Initiated a development calendar for Club based on key milestones and demonstrated excellence in onboarding cross functional teams and factory resources in adhering to deadlines.Pioneered biweekly market research reports and store visits to ensure up to date analysis of current market trends.Secured incremental orders during first in person meeting with Costco Canada for 45k units on a brand-new item.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Analyzed style, size and colour performance by location, preparing and presenting weekly and seasonal sell through reports.Devised strategic quantification approach and presented weekly buy quantities to CFO.Prepared and presented monthly retails and GM% report to CFO and managed retail pricing strategy.Managed two associates and mentored them to become buyers responsible for purchasing their own categories.Monitored market changes, competitor prices and product assortments in Canada, US, UK and Japan.Analyzed sales history to anticipate trends in consumer buying patterns and opportunities for growth.Collaborated with Planning and Senior Management to create assortment plans, budgets, meet inventory goals and re-forecast sales within season to react to current trends.Determined the overall allocation strategy through the product life-cycle including initial allocation, replenishment and consolidation.Recommend inventory clearance strategies when necessary.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Created expanded assortment strategy through analysis and interpretation of data from sales and consumer trends to address missed product opportunities.Leveraged product development team to negotiate costs and ensure on-time delivery of inventory, driving seasonal sales.Initiated and led project to redevelop packing in support of global environmental concerns and realign customer facing information, to provide consistency across all products.Managed cross functional team responsible for seasonal marketing, created in-store strategy, identified key items, developed a monthly marketing calendar and designed & executed in-store signage, emphasizing product information to assist customers in their overall shopping experience.Planned and developed all product knowledge material and trained store operations personnel seasonally with emphasis on improving brand awareness and customer engagement.

Toronto, Canada Area

Successfully executed the realignment of brands within the banner by exiting 10%+ established brands and introducing 15%+ new trending brands, thereby elevating brand positioning and enhancing the customer shopping experience.Negotiated new vendor agreements and grew valuable partnerships while formulating curated product assortment plans to exceed customer product expectations.Managed inventory flow, negotiating cost discounts or priority shipping in support of seasonal sales plan.Analyzed and presented post mortem and seasonal strategies to executive team.

Toronto, Canada Area

Identified opportunities and developed and executed a strategy for incremental programs for multiple key accounts which resulted in exceeding total sales plan by 14%.Spearheaded opening of new distribution channels to drive sales in clearance and aged inventory, meeting sales plans and exceeding profit targets.Successfully managed to increase retail prices to mitigate YOY cost increases without negatively impacting total sales volume on repeat programs, leading to achieving planned sales and GP.Partnered with product design and development to create exclusive programs for Costco Canada to drive overall sales and maintain profitability without jeopardizing sales in core assortment.

Markham, On

Improved sample productivity and hit rate by implementing a focused customer driven approach, reducing sampling and courier costs.Negotiated best prices and deliveries maintaining mutually beneficial and profitable partnerships.Championed superior communication skills by leading product seminars for The Hudson’s Bay Company across Canada.

Restructured trend and athletic categories to drive sales, broaden core assortment, reduce SKU count and decrease PO receipt timing by incorporating immediate stock buys from new vendor base.Implemented new methods of weekly reporting to increase visibility of sales information to management.

Exceeded Fall 2009 sales plan resulting in a 62% increase in GP$.Led the footwear team to rank regularly in the top three categories of the Sirens division each week.

Sourced emerging lifestyle brands and negotiated introduction to the existing brand matrix.Introduced private brand footwear, increasing initial markup and expanding the customer reach to non-action sports related consumers.