Deborah Albert Email & Phone Number

Greater New York City Area

Greater New York City Area

Cedar Knolls, New Jersey

•Responsible for management and preparation of company’s monthly/annual wholesale sales forecast in tandem with to the corporate P&L.•Manage wholesale and web seasonal buy plans, including monthly sales, inventory, markdowns and gross margin projections.•Implemented new planning, forecasting and analysis tools for both wholesale and E-Commerce divisions. •Analyze performance at the style, color and size level to appropriate recommendations for re-orders, future purchases and sell off strategies.•Established and coordinate on a weekly basis, inventory strategy meetings across sales, merchandising and web divisions.•Provide merchandising, pricing and marketing strategies for wholesale and E-Commerce segments of the company.•Developed and prepare on a weekly basis, “Best Seller” reports for the company, for wholesale, retail and E-Commerce sales.•Manage one Customer Service/Account Services Manager and three Customer Service/Account Services Associates.•Work in conjunction with 3PL Warehouse manager to ensure proper receipt of merchandise and product flow through the warehouse.•Manage annual inventory audit at 3PL warehouse.

Greater New York City Area

Reporting directly to the President of Russell Newman Brands. Responsible for the management and execution of the corporate wholesale/retail vertical planning, production and customer sales orders, inventory levels, flow of product and warehouse operations.•Implemented weekly processes and procedures to forecast weekly/monthly/annual shipments of the company to ensure the overall achievement of corporate financial plans. •Responsible for preparation of annual budget and monthly forecasts in tandem with the overall corporate strategies.•Analyze and identify via key performance indicators opportunities to increase revenue and decrease cost within the operational functions of the company.•Manage quarterly/seasonal margin settlements.•Work in tandem with key retail planners to develop seasonal assortment plans in tandem to the retailer open to buy. •Manage all aspects related to the order management for the company. Including receipt of inbound production, ensuring on time routing and fulfillment of customer orders.•Oversee and manage 3PL warehouse for the company located on the west coast. Consistently looking for efficiencies to increase flow of merchandise through the warehouse.•Coordinate and manage inventory counts, researching discrepancies and making adjustments to inventory when necessary.•Monitor and analyze inventory, to determine sell down of prior season merchandise or slow moving inventory.•Manage one planner, two order management coordinators and the Director of Warehouse Operations.

Wayne, New Jersey

Direct implementation of John Gault Solutions, Demand Planning / Supply Chain Management software system. Reporting to the CFO responsible for overall inventory management, flow of goods and Supply Chain to achieve overall corporate strategies and efficiencies.•Implemented software system to be used for Demand Planning, Sales Forecasting and purchase order generation of 4000+ skus.•Responsible for the companies Operations Planning, Demand Forecast Management, and Supply Chain Management to achieve overall company efficiencies and goals.•Provide and present weekly and monthly forecast during Senior Management meetings.•Manage and provide costing of discontinued and closeout inventory.•Provide capacity plans and purchase forecast for factories based on demand plans for factories.•Manage and monitor flow of product from the factories to ensure timely deliveries.•Responsible for maintaining the system’s data integrity.

Co-owner of the business plan, reporting to VP of Sales. Recruited by VP of Sales to implement strategic planning and business management solutions to improve sales, forecasting, Demand Planning, profitability, and inventory turnover. Developed, implemented, and managed retail/wholesale planning department resulting in the current comprehensive business planning and analysis process on a weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual basis. Ensured execution of brand environments with key business partners, assuring maximization of sales, margin, turn, inventory productivity at retail. Managed one planning manager and one forecast manager. • Immediately challenged to reduce skus in retail product line, editing the sku base from over 400 skus to an optimal retail offering of 130 skus –The results improved sales, gross margin and demand planning accuracy by 15%.• Partnered in development and implementation of product category management hierarchy resulting in, higher margin products, replacing low margin styles, and the first ever national pricing solution that allowed effective planning and measurement of gross sales margin. Increased margins 4.7% by successfully selling in first ever national pricing.• Executed account and channel specific business solutions that resulted in a sales increase of 15.3%. Business solutions centered on item/door analysis of our key partners, providing the most productive product assortment to drive sales, margin, and turn.• Reversed downward trend in key NY Metro retailer by aligning product assortment by item, by door, set-up model stocks by door, reconfiguring plan-o-grams. This strategy and implementation resulted in a 21% increase in sales and increased replenishment orders.• Devised, gained approval, and executed bottom ups sku roll-up by account to drive demand planning and margin visibility – The results improved sales, gross margin, and demand planning accuracy.

Recruited by CEO and VP of Sales, both former Associates from Ralph Lauren Childrenswear to devise, gain approval and execute Retail and Wholesale planning and analysis tools and business processes resulting in the implementation of weekly, monthly, and annual analysis of sales, inventory levels, margin, and turn. Managed one customer service manager and one supply chain coordinator.• Effectively partnered with CFO to reengineer profitability analysis by customer, product category and classification. Improved internal gross margin by 2% in first year.• Instituted new methods for analyzing Retail Markdowns and Gross Margins which resulted in the mitigation of retail markdowns, improved retail gross margins.• Successfully negotiated quarterly, seasonal and annual vendor margin assistance, resulting in a $750K savings for the company in year one.• Initiated and executed improved processes for product sales review, style and classification analysis, as well as distribution. Improved product planning and delivery for the US and Canadian market.• Partnered with VP of Information Technology in the design and implementation of computer system upgrades and additions.

Recruited by the VP of Sales to be involved in all launch requirements, including planning, sales, merchandising, product development, negotiations, fixture design, marketing, recruiting, hiring and training for Timberland, Kenneth Cole, Ecko and G-Unit Childrenswear. Developed, negotiated and executed launch retail sales and inventory plans by location for all divisions of Federated, May Company, Saks Inc., and Dillard’s. Recruited, managed and trained (1) Shop Development Coordinator, (1)NY Metro Merchandise Coordinator and team of 50 outsourced Merchandise Coordinators. • Strategized and executed retail analysis and planning solutions that resulted in the implementation of a comprehensive business analysis process on a weekly, monthly and annual basis.• Established, executed and provided monthly, seasonal and annual merchandise and fiscal plans to all Status Brand licensors.• Evaluated, strategized and implemented allocation processes with each status brand team, ensuring on time product delivery. Resulting in the achievement of sales goals, inventory turnover, mitigation of markdowns and higher gross margins.• Devised and executed quarterly and season vendor margin analysis, resulting in a savings of $1 million dollars in vendor assistance in year one.• Strategized, developed and executed fixture and merchandising standards for Timberland, Kenneth Cole, Ecko and G-Unit childrenswear brands.