Category Manager
•As the inaugural category manager for a seven store farm and country retail operation I was tasked with cleaning up the assortment offering through SKU rationalization, consistent product offerings among stores, and introduction of new assortments to secure us a small-town destination for livestock, farm, pet, hardware, and lawn & garden needs•Introduced new national brands such as Blundstone, Redback, Kodiak, Ariat and Berne in apparel and footwear; Komado Joe, Masterbuilt, Pit Boss, Louisiana and Blackstone barbecues and griddles; Iron Embers, Yeti and Fiskars in outdoor living; Schleich and Breyer farm themed toys, and more to help position us as a rural family destination and maintain financial growth•In preparation for the Niagara on the Lake store renovation and the opening of the first exclusive pet store location (Pet Barn) in Waterdown, I performed a complete SKU & brand rationalization. This resulted in the deletion of several underperforming brands, while adding several new market relevant brands. Some examples of brand additions are Lifetime pet food, Kong travel, Bowsers pet beds, Healthy Paws raw, Raw Performance, Open Range Chews, Redbarn collagen and chews•Created store floor plans and merchandise assortment and fixture plans for all commodities for the 6,000 sq/ft Niagara on the Lake renovation and the new 2,200 sq/ft PetBarn location•Responsible for product selection for a monthly week-long flyer program (2-8 pages depending on the season) for two banners while also managing a monthly in-store promotional program•Managed retail pricing and negotiated vendor costing through a volatile Covid-19 period, while keeping gross profit on plan•Responsible for maintaining an active 12K SKUs assortment•Introduced a successful reduced pricing program where there was previously no exit strategy for discontinued merchandise, eliminating 10% of aged inventory in the first year while growing the overall sales and profit by 17%
