• Recruited by Controller to direct the Inventory Accounting & Corporate Purchasing Department. • Lead and directed financial reporting, analyzed variances, created budgets and forecasts relating to inventory, inventory reserves and purchases. • Managed $2 million in total expenditures relating to store and corporate supplies and fixtures. • Directed the transition of the Corporate Purchasing function to the Finance Department, implementing additional reporting and controls to identify potential liabilities and cost saving opportunities. • Provided critical financial data to support $51 million debt refinancing as member of restructuring team. • Negotiated inventory service contract with new provider resulting in annual savings of $250K. • Lead the semi-annual store physical inventory process, partnered with inventory service provider and store operations department to drive best in class approach to physical inventory process. • Restructured the reporting of the semi-annual store and distribution center physical inventory resulting in timely and accurate reporting for executive management. • Implemented data warehouse reporting tools within department. • Elevated reporting standards/processes supporting physical inventory, inventory aging, merchandise accruals, and purchasing. • Responsible for the integrity of the stock ledger and general ledger, leadership for the annual physical inventory process, and all related inventory-based activities, including the month-end close process. • Commissioned cross-functional team including distribution center and supply chain stakeholders to improve inventory accuracy and valuation resulting in programming, process, and reporting changes. • Directed timely and accurate reconciliation of the Retail Stock and General Ledger. • Streamlined month-end in-transit accounting entry resulting in 50% reduction in processing time.

• Collaborated with senior management to create and maintain strategic merchandising and marketing partnerships with technology. • Served as project manager for small to medium size projects pertaining to master data, permanent and promotional pricing and EDI. • Partnered with application and infrastructure teams to properly scope and size project requests. • Researched, identified and tested technology products for solution delivery of business improvements. • Facilitated the understanding, clarification and implementation of business requirements. • Lead functional design review with development teams. • Drove the implementation of international shipping for joann.com. Resulting in $1M incremental sales annually.

• Established effective data integrity procedures, processes and policies that supported the Company's initiatives for purchasing, replenishment, and permanent and promotional pricing. • Lead the expansion of the Company's Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) efforts. Implemented the 864 Text Message, 860 - Purchase Order Change, 856 - Advance Shipment Notice, and 824 - Application Advice. • Coordinated and maintained a solid working relationship with Information Technology staff to ensure timely completion of projects within budget. • Achieved 20% increase in gross margin dollars for Alaska stores by introducing zone pricing capability in SAP. • Responsible for the successful transmission of documents through the Company's EDI system. 480 trading partners received approximately 89K purchase orders electronically each month. Invoices received per month via EDI were approximately 85K. • Supervised user acceptance testing and other analytical tasks. • Organized, trained, and supervised staff, to address data integrity issues, policies and procedures. Created and monitored audit reports to ensure successful data integrity procedures. • Maintained current knowledge of new technologies and practices used in master data through exposure to industry practices, changing technology, and proactive networking. • Assisted with Sarbanes-Oxley process documentation and compliance testing pertaining to master data and purchase order creation and maintenance. Implement new internal controls to address identified deficiencies. • Recognized as a business subject matter expert for the SAP enterprise wide upgrade implementation (4.5a to 4.7) and instrumental in the rollout of companywide POS system.

• Managed an annual operating budget of $500,000. • Responsible for the outside inventory service which included 90 area offices located throughout the United States and an annual operating budget of $6.5 million. • Responsible for overseeing all physical inventory processes for all retail sites and the Distribution Center. • Analyzed the adequacy of the $28 million shrink reserve. • Re-engineered the physical inventory workflow achieving a $500K annual cost savings. • Owned the physical inventory module for the SAP enterprise wide system implementation. • Integrated the physical inventory process of a $100 million, 260-store acquisition. Reduced physical inventory execution from 4 days to 1 day. • Streamlined the inventory process at the Company's Distribution Center by scanning counts and interfacing data into the Distribution Center system (EXE). Reduced physical inventory execution from 3 days to 1.5 days.

• Coordinated physical inventories for all operating locations, acquisitions and store divestitures. • Developed a departmental scheduling database resulting in streamlined scheduling process for physical inventories. • Assisted in developing standardized inventory reconciliation procedures resulting in increased departmental efficiency and improved accuracy. • Developed a departmental shrink database and produced reports analyzing shrink results for the executive team. • Resolved shrink, profitability or margin issues reported by upper management at store, corporate or distribution level. • Accountable for cost control, organizational development and recruitment of inventory reconciliation analysts.

• Served as a liaison between field personnel and the corporate Store Operations department. • Worked with Operations District Managers to develop action plan for shrinkage reduction. • Resolved shrink, profitability or margin issues reported by upper management at store, corporate or distribution level. • Supervised physical inventories at the company's retail sites and distribution centers. Distribution Center valuation was $92 million. • Revised the prescribed audit program identifying causes of shrink at retail sites. • Reported noncompliance areas of operations audit to Regional Vice Presidents and their staffs. Discussed methods of correction. • Developed and conducted shrinkage reduction training seminars for field level management. • Assisted with acquisitions and divestiture of company locations. • Accountable for cost control, organizational development and recruitment of professionals for area offices.

• Established the Southern Regional Audit office in Charlotte, NC. • Reported on cost justifiable improvements for upper management.

• Conducted operational audits in store locations and assisted external auditors with year-end audits.