Gary Helm Email & Phone Number

Jacksonville, Fl, Us

Greater Chicago Area

Industry Advisor and Consultant - Private.Volunteer: (President: Board of Directors - Beachside Community), and Political involvement, Real estate investment and renovation, Consumer Products / Retail Consulting, Law enforcement liaison, et al.

Darien, Connecticut, United States

Norwalk, Ct

Royal Consumer Products, (Geographics) llc, Norwalk, CT 2012 – 2016International Product / Brand Manager and Director; Geographics®Social and Business stationery products: Provided product and art direction, working with overseas factories giving guidance for substrate, construction and design. Provide direction for product assortments for major National / International markets for increased revenue and profit. Review and develop financial planning and profit and loss projections and analysis to provide leadership to gear the business toward increased profitability. • Gained competitive advantage, earning 70% market share in catalog venues in award categories and double digit profit growth in social stationery. • Developed and leading cost analysis and assortment negotiations to best provide the customer and company with the most revenue, using effective solutions to maximize profitability for all parties.• Engaged all available resources (Factories, Liaisons, and Logistics Team) to lower costs, while maintaining or increasing profitability and quality.• Provided direction to inspire Sales Management, Marketing, and Sourcing, in face to face meetings, collaborating with key team members.• Customized products and assortments for major accounts, including Staples (US, Canada and Australia), Office Depot / Max, Walmart (US and Canada), SP Richards, (and other catalog and ECOMM venues).• Agreeably collaborated with CEO, CFO and SVP/General manager

Borders Group, Inc Ann Arbor, MI 2009 – 2011Gifts, Stationery and Greeting cards Merchant, ; Excel in developing current categories for the core customer while reaching out and establishing the right product mix for additional consumer base.Negotiated and established major contracts for key initiatives of the business, which were upheld by the courts as being some of the most substantial agreements, and were upheld during protection processes. Manage business with over 70 vendors in ~650 stores in the categories of Greeting Cards, Giftwrap and Trim, Blank Books, Stationery and related products. International Experience & Travel to Europe; working closely with Paperchase UK division to maintain brand identity, while customizing product development and assortment for the US market.• Negotiate and implement strategic contracts for businesses for multiple years in key categories toward corporate initiatives.• Manage assortments to effectively maximize sales potential, while minimizing capitol investment in down-trending categories; maximizing turn • Influenced Senior Executives toward positive results gaining resources needed for the business by presenting ROI analysis and negotiating for limited corporate resources, resolving IT and Logistics issues• Effectively using Negotiating Skills and Personnel Management to better utilize available resources toward industry leadership

Furniture Buyer (Sept 2008 – February 2009)• Buyer of furniture: RTA, Case Goods, Upholstered Furniture, and Occasional Furniture. 45.0M responsibility• Lead merchant for special projects at Pamida, including a new store concept/ venue targeted for early 2009.Stationery Buyer (April 2007 – Sept 2008)• Buyer of stationery and crafts for a general merchandise retailer of over 200 stores. 42.0M responsibility• Buying responsibility for over 4000 SKUs, in stationery and home products, including giftware, greeting cards social stationery and home crafting.• Effectively managing office staff including assistant buyers, allocation managers, and office associates • Gaining total sales and margin growth of my areas to increases over previous buying staff, recovering from pre-occurring double-digit losses, through effective negotiations and understanding the market trends.• Serving, due to the recognition of senior management, on committees regarding the growth and development of Pamida initiatives.

Upscale Home Buyer (Soft and Hard Goods) Product DevelopmentBuyer and development of high-end ready-made window treatments, furniture, domestic goods, home decorative accessories, books, gifts and hand knitting yarns. Effectively capitalized on trends to maximize profit, while exiting quickly from down turning trends to minimize liability. Using innovative resourcing strategies, able to identify and select agents, vendors, and manage logistics to facilitate new product sourcing from off shore suppliers and vendors.Developed promotional events for 35-40% single event sales increases including 60th anniversary promotion and knitters breakfast by more effectively working with vendor partners and peers.; • Bought, negotiated for, and managed replenishment and promotion of over 5,000 SKUs for five stores toward increased sales and profit• Maintained increased sales growth in excess of 10% at 4% increase in gross margin and increased turn of 0.3• Implemented over-seas importing; effectively sourcing agents, vendors, and managing logistics.

• Effectively bought categories to result in growth in fabric, yarn, sewing notions, soft crafts, and related craft accessories• Buying responsibility for $32.0 million area with over 3000 SKUs for 479 stores.• Increased sales, margin and turn resulting in 1.57-point growth in gross margin return on investment.• Negotiated cost reductions and restructured advertising to result in 19.9% increase in gross margin for fabric department.• Directed planning and allocation staff to ensure appropriate stock levels in stores including the opening of 150 new stores.• Recipient of the Chairman’s Award for outstanding performance.

• Buying for a variety of hard lines categories and seasonal categories including health and beauty care, sundries, seasonal goods, and related product.• Organized and developed seasonal buying systems using Lotus123.• Trained and developed store management in visual merchandising and merchandise operations.• Created and reviewed Plan O Grams and implemented profitable product assortments.

Progressively promoted, managed stores from $7,000,000 to $12,000,000 and directed all aspects of store and merchandise operations.