Lauren Tolbert Email & Phone Number

Oakland, California, US

Oakland, California, US

Oakland, California, US

Oakland, California, US

• Fair Trade USA is the leading nonprofit, third-party certifier and promoter of Fair Trade products in North America. The Fair Trade Certified™ seal on a product signifies it was made according to rigorous standards.
• Develop, cultivate, and manage relationships with key retailer and foodservice partners.
• Advise Category & Brand Managers on product and sourcing recommendations that drive sustainable impact and align with overall business plans
• Provide CSR and Marketing teams guidance on creating and messaging sustainability commitments that align with their overall mission and ESG goals
• Foster innovative omni-channel marketing strategies that educate conscious consumers, drive overall engagement, build consumer loyalty and grow sales

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US

Chesapeake, Virginia, US

• Partnered with F500 Hershey, Mars, Nestle, etc. to develop 3-year Joint Business Plan’s to grow category sales, margin and market share
• Met weekly with Category Advisers and Inventory team to analyze sales, inventory and in stock rates
• Collaborated with internal & external Brand Marketing teams to ensure shopper marketing programs were implemented during key sales events
• Negotiated innovative solutions to offset Tariffs/Cost changes to ensure margin remained intact
• Executed and presented 2019 & 2020 strategies to Executive Management based on SWOT analysis of financial results and market intel
• Indirectly Managed Assistant Buyer and Merchandise Assistant in Buyer’s absence

Chesapeake, Virginia, US

• Analyzed KPI’s and overall business weekly to present to the VP and present quarterly results to the SVP
• Executed new Home Fragrance replenished schematic in May 2018 for 8.3k doors – Q2 results+24% sales comp and +$1M to plan
• Negotiated $200k of cost savings and +$250k of allowances to plan
• Partnered with Inventory team to ensure sales to stock ratio is inline for both Fashion and Replenishment items
• Utilized Nielsen, IRI data & Insights to differentiate schematic per region and ethnicity traits to maximize sales
• Coordinated and led Engagement and Philanthropic events within the Division and Implemented new partnership with Bright Blessings, local NPO

Charlotte, North Carolina, US

• Forecasted monthly OTB/Financials in SAS to ensure sales, stock, markdowns and gross margin are in line with the plan
• Presented to the CEO and EVP of Planning weekly business updates and innovative and strategic plans for go forward
• Upheld strong vendor relationships, utilized when personally negotiated $734k in RTV’s in FY17
• Reviewed Ecommerce performance weekly ensuring brand placement, pricing and overall category sales are in line and compare to brick and mortar sales to collaborate with the ecommerce team where we had opportunities
• Analyzed Advertising results and proposed new offers and handles to Management
• Partnered with social media and advertising teams to ensure key marketing handles and product is best represented during peaks of business

Charlotte, North Carolina, US

• Directly responsible for Home Décor, Gifts & Trim-A-Tree merchandising strategies and P&L; product development, assortment selection, financial & inventory planning, margin collection, pricing & promotions, visual.
• Developed and launched new Home Décor collections with three new vendors, which resulted in new Home Décor office Fall 2016
• Implemented new cross-merchandising marketing strategy across the entire division
• Negotiated with key vendors on strong Q4 categories/advertising handles with additional co-op and scan-backs for margin support
• Partnered with Sourcing/Product Development team for 60% of categories; Outdoor Living, Home Décor, Trim, etc.

Charlotte, North Carolina, US

• Responsible for advertising, projections, pricing strategy, samples and collecting co-op
• Created and maintained on order recap with style descriptions, financials and shipping details per month to assist team with vendor plans and OTB
• Trained and managed new Merchandise Assistant in the office and Assistants in the division.
• Created and executed a Junior Denim Trade-In Event in partnership with The United Way for all stores in August 2014

Charlotte, North Carolina, US

• Maintained organization of all purchase orders, assortment plans, fit samples, lab dips, advertising samples and daily upkeep of On Order financial recap for Buyer and Divisional Merchandise Manager that matches the.
• Gathered and analyzed various reports to create recaps and assist Buyer with quarterly strategy planning
• Communicate with vendors daily on costs, fit and advertising samples, shipping status and sales
• Weekly review and analyze merchandising reports and propose best selling and possible markdown items
• Collaborated with Product Development team & Suppliers on developing products, dealing with various fabrics, pitching prints and color-ways, tracking fit samples and shipping ETA’s
• Prepared monthly meetings with planner and analysts to review on order styles and discuss shipping strategies

Charlotte, North Carolina, US

• Assisted Planner with buyer analyses by recapping information from various reports and systems
• Responsible for all store allocations focusing on BOM stock levels, sales trend/weeks of supply, fixture fill and store plans

Seattle, Washington, US

• Partnered with managers for three distinct departments
• Responsibly and capably acted as Assistant Manager with supervisory duties
• Teamed up with the Visual Merchandising team for holiday store set up and assisted with in-store events, maintained floor layouts and created floor displays
• Shadowed Buyers at East Coast Buying Office
• Worked closely with in-store Visual Merchandising team, Store Manager, Human Resources, Customer Service
• Worked with a team of interns to complete a project successfully and presented to the Executive Vice President, Stores