Kara Bolender (Eckley) Email & Phone Number

Newport, Kentucky, United States

Newport, Kentucky, United States

• Execute and lead commodities through the Category Acceleration process with the intention to drive incremental sales, gross margin and share growth of Kroger Our Brands productions
• Oversee and facilitate the acceleration timeline while executing category strategy with a focus on price, promotion and customer insights to ensure Our Brands success
• Actively taken on a leadership position by training and onboarding new Acceleration Managers, implementing improved and efficient processes, and assisting team members with everyday workload

Newport, Kentucky, United States

• Leverage own expertise and those of the team to recommend promotional strategies and plans to Category Management to increase sales, margin and overall growth for all Baby, Beauty, Personal Care Kroger Our Brands skus
• Collaborate with Our Brands Suppliers to develop, create and then execute promotional displays to provide secondary placement of our items within Kroger Stores to help drive incremental promotional sales and movement
• Monitor and manage countless Kroger Our Brands Out of Stocks and communicated with Replenishment and the Suppliers on the best course of action to get these skus back in stock in a timely manner
• Assist Kroger CSM with new item introduction decisions, sku rationalization decisions and additional merchandising opportunities based on category analysis, external market trends and a general knowledge of the Baby.

Newport, Kentucky

• Manage countless weekly reports such as Period Performance, Headwinds and Highlights, Out of Stocks, Supplier Weekly Movement, Diaper Trends, Inventory Levels to provide an understanding to the team as to what is going.
• Monitor Our Brands and National Brand sales weekly to understand any potential sales or promotional trends that may be helping or hurting our commodities
• Collaborate with Kroger CSM to use customer insights, competitive IRI market data and industry leading trends to create our Annual Business Plan to ensure all commodities are competitive and moving in the correct.
• Support the Merchandising Manager and ASP with the sales planning process by providing internal and external data driven insights
• Stepped up into a leadership position when my Merchandising Manager was on leave and was able to gain insights into the day-to-day business of running a desk as well as gain exceptional knowledge of the Grocery.

Newport, Kentucky

• Collaborate with the Kroger team on Period and Quarterly promotional themes, displays and events for all National Brand Items, ensuring current YTD sales would lap or exceed previous period and quarterly sales
• Manage numerous reports from Ad-Monitoring, Top Out of Stocks, Daily Sales and Market Share to provide Category Management insights into areas that need improvement or immediate attention
• Quickly adapted to COVID-19 and the effects on our supply chain and inventory to determine the best course of action, such as taking the item off the POG completely, or putting it on allocation
• Aided as the sole Beauty ASP through special assignment at Kroger GO to spearhead the Holiday 2020 Program
• Facilitate all New Item Kompass Appointments for multiple teams within the HBC Department at GO
• Ensure Ad features accurately promote the Holiday Program to consumers in partnership with the Kroger Promotional Team

Cincinnati, OH

• Evaluate candidates via resume reviews and phone/in-person interviews to fulfill client requirements of qualified IT professionals
• Responsible for updating and maintaining Salesforce for daily activity, pipeline management, and forecasting data
• Perform detailed and thorough reference checks to review candidates’ qualifications and to generate new business
• Lock down candidates by negotiating and validating commitment to new position, review and resolve possible avenues for applicant hesitation, and build and maintain contractor relationships

Cincinnati, OH

• Re-imagined, reinvented, and revolutionized the Mary Kay personal beauty experience and beauty party
• Developed an integrated marketing plan to increase the number of Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultants

Cincinnati, Ohio

• Experience leading all stages of innovative, branded, and revenue-generating events exceeding client and employer expectations
• Responsible for scheduling, supervising and motivating the food and beverage staff of 16 people
• Helped increase Grab n' Go sales by 30% within the first month new marketing tactics such as online advertisement, rewards programs, and various case studies
• Order and requisition food and other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation
• Maintain a clean and sanitized environment up to code with the Hamilton County Health Department
• Answer any questions presented by club members or out of club guest

Cincinnati, Ohio

• Extensive food and beverage preparation and service experience
• Maintained a clean and sanitized environment
• High grasp of handling cash and reconciliation procedures
• Answered any questions presented by club members or out of club guest

Cincinnati

• Assist professor with classroom instruction, exams, record keeping, and other miscellaneous projects
• Correspond with students via Blackboard
• Obtain materials needed for class including texts and other various lecture resources
• Mentor and tutor students when needed
• Pass out, collect, review, and grade all assignments including homework, quizzes, projects and exams
• Submit grades to Blackboard

Cincinnati, OH

• Provided excellent guest experiences by having full knowledge of policies, services, and locations at the ballpark
• Collaborated with the Director of Customer Service to reward employees for exemplary performance of their job,increasing the quality of the overall fan experience at Great American Ballpark
• Executed all pregame and on-field promotions to include giveaways, batting practice viewings, first gamecertificates, in-seat visits, and Season Ticket Member events held at Great American Ballpark
• Worked proactively to gauge Fan Feedback by reading and responding to all inquiries sent in to the CustomerService department then brainstormed to provide solutions and responses
• Primary point of contact for VIP ticket will-call for 75+ Reds games for the ’16 and ’17 seasons

Dayton, Ohio

• Maintained a safe and enjoyable atmosphere for fans entering the ballgames
• Answered any questions presented by fans spectators
• Directed the opposing teams bus to parking location
• Assisted with setup of booths or ballpark games on the plaza

Bachelor Of Business Administration (B.B.A.), Marketing And Information Systems

High School

Activities and Societies: Varsity Softball, Soccer, and Basketball, Varsity B Club, Air Force JROTC, Eagle Excellence and Project Charlie