Leslie Huffaker Email & Phone Number

Saint Petersburg, Fl, Us

St Petersburg, Florida, United States

Tampa, Florida, United States

Tampa, Florida, United States

Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

Irving, Tx

• Responsible for end to end marketing process including pagination planning, forecasting, product sample and image submissions, proofing, and keying all data into the promotional system.• Developed new promotional pricing offers creating a fresh approach to marketing Food Crafting while maximizing gross margin and marketing productivity in Q3 & Q4 2017. Achieved year end departmental gross margin goals.• Coordinated and negotiated vendor funded marketing for new product launches, ensuring proper ecommerce product placement.• Set up store layouts for Category Director’s approval and executive review at model store, ensuring profitable product placement. • Led the department’s communication between both the field and customer service teams with extreme attention to detail.• Developed and maintained strong vendor relationships with both National Brands and Private Brand suppliers to keep in pace with industry trends.• Sourced new innovative vendor leads, providing guidance in the set-up process, ensuring due diligence to Michaels.

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

• Managed the Diamond Fashion Gold business. Achieved annual sales goal of $75.0 million.• Determined product pricing and life cycle. Analyzed performance weekly and developed profitable exit strategies.• Created tiered store assortments based on demographics, store volume, inventory turn and mix to maximize performance at the store level and offer a competitive edge.• Collaborated cross-functionally in a heavily marketed business, to ensure best product placement, accurate copy, and store project execution.• Entered pricing at the SKU level for promotional items weekly for high SKU count areas of the business for both Diamond Fashion & Gemstones.• Reviewed samples and technical spec sheets weekly for quality assurance prior to order shipments.• Trained and developed Merchandising Assistants, providing guidance on time management based on business needs and deadlines.• Maintained an extensive knowledge of competitors, their offerings and their presence in the marketplace.

Charlotte, North Carolina Area

• Responsible for all aspects of the metals jewelry business from initial product concept to market, ensuring competitive quality standards, pricing, and delivery times. Produced annual sales volume of $12.0 million.• Created expanded online only direct to customer assortment to support company-wide initiative, by sourcing new vendors and filling holes in the assortment, resulting in triple digit sales increase.• Forecasted sales, inventory, and profit financial metrics, presented risks, opportunities, and action plans to management monthly.• Formulated seasonal pricing cadence. Identified key items and classifications to boost in advertising. Selected the fastest turning Black Friday item in 2014 within the fine jewelry division.• Increased gross margin rate +113 basis points, by sourcing low margin SKUs to new vendors, negotiating lower costs, and ensuring the highest quality.• Determined replenishment builds for core SKUs, monitored orders, approved weekly, & recommended needed adjustments weekly to ensure proper inventory levels.• Built strong relationships with vendors, serving as the primary point of contact for 20+ vendors providing extreme attention to detail.• Negotiated $1.5 million in additional memo consignment inventory (vendor owned) to fund the top producing stores and increase turn.• Developed new packaging process for top of counter displays, ensuring consistency and providing stores with instruction and communication.

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

• Built and forecasted financial plans, for the launch the new Special Events division, producing annual sales of $42.0 million.• Planned daily sales goals at the store level and communicated goals monthly to the field team.• Established proper levels of product inventory by store, category, and price point.• Allocated 6,000 + unique SKUs weekly to both the US and Canada. Developed allocation planning template in excel to increase efficiency and productivity.• Projected seasonal buys, in collaboration with the merchant team, to align with the financial plan and current business trend.• Created innovative exit strategies for Trade-In slow turning inventory while achieving highest profitability.• Partnered with distribution center to execute and communicate stock balance and return to vendor projects as needed to ensure inventory levels.• Generated weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports for senior management.

Irving, Tx

• Promoted to Assistant Merchant from Merchandising Assistant within 3 months, in the highest volume department in the company; annual sales volume of $288.0 million.• Assisted Merchant in the Zale Corporation's most successful brand Vera Wang Love, from product development to launch. Produced incremental sales of $39.0 million in the first year.• Established pricing strategies to maximize gross margin based on competitive analysis.• Selected product and layout placement for print marketing based on performance, volume, and margin opportunity.• Monitored sales daily to identify top styles for potential expansions to directors. Managed new investment proposal process for Open-to-Buy approval.• Responsible for cross-functional communication across all areas including Sourcing, Marketing, Dotcom, Store Planning, Store Operations, Legal, & Visual.• Acted as a direct liaison between the Merchant and vendors, regarding design, product development, and quality, pricing, sourcing, and return to vendor negotiation.

Greater Los Angeles Area

• Managed office daily; tasks including scheduling for CEO, client correspondence, heavy phone volume, and training & mentoring interns.• Delivered a high level of service to clients across multiple industries to both maintain and extend the relationships for future business opportunities.• Drafted engaging, accurate and effective press releases and social media pitches.• Wrote compelling pitches and press releases to secure client brand visibility.• Tracked client publicity mentions and delivered informative, detail oriented presentations of clippings to clients.• Built and maintained media and coalition lists.

Knoxville, Tennessee Area

B.S, Retail & Consumer Sciences, Minor, Business Administration

Activities and Societies: Kappa Omicron Nu Honors Society, Nordstrom Summer Internship Program 2005

Associate Of Arts (A.A.), Visual Communications

Activities and Societies: LA Fashion Week Intern 2009