Howard Marks Email & Phone Number

Greater New York City Area

When GCE International acquired Capital Mercury in 2009, I was retained as a key component of the acquisition; since then, I have been given the additional responsibility for the Food and Drug division and Amazon.I lead all aspects of the Capital Mercury Shirtmaker division including design, sourcing, costing, sales, and merchandising. Under my leadership we have grown a key mass merchant dress shirt program from $17 million to $30 million in annual volume; I have worked with mills and the factory to add darker colors and patterns at the same cost. We have expanded the customer base and partnered with brands to become a key supplier of their products; branded sales have grown from zero to $10+ million.As head of the Food and Drug division, I have provided the cross-functional execution and creative leadership necessary to grow business with key accounts and have been instrumental in driving and retaining business. I have worked with all of the major retailers including Walmart, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Hudson Bay, Amazon, Ross Stores, and Marmaxx.

I was recruited by the SVP to lead the Sweater Division and to bring a retailer’s eye and business focus to the design and merchandising process; my success identifying line voids, key items, market opportunities, and core analytics led to a promotion with full responsibility for all divisions.I augmented the company’s private label offerings by identifying an opportunity to add and grow a denim friendly brand. I established a team of designers and sales people, merchandised and sourced the line, worked with the factories, and generated $12 million in annual sales with placement in 450+ doors including Macy’s, Dillard’s, Von Maur, and Hudson Bay.$11 million in incremental sales was generated through negotiation of new licenses with Bill Blass for multiple categories of merchandise and Tricot St. Raphael for moderately priced sweaters. To better meet the needs of the company, I reorganized the overseas office and refined the vendor base. We negotiated better prices by moving more business to key factories and committing to annual production units. Turkey and the Czech Republic were introduced into the existing sourcing structure. The position involved extensive travel to mills, factories, and offices in Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Central America.

Under my leadership, the private label business grew from $40 million to $70 million with an additional 4% margin. By introducing the Grant Thomas and Metropolitan brands, we moved L&T into proprietary brands for the first time. I traveled to both overseas and domestic markets to develop and place merchandise, sourced and worked with factories in the US, Europe, and Asia, and expanded our factory base to Italy, the Czech Republic, and Turkey.