Margaret Hedlund Email & Phone Number

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Drive sales by identifying, selecting and managing international partners, including sales reps and distributors throughout Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, as well as select National Accounts. Expert in vetting potential partners and managing omni channel strategy, expanding my territory and more than doubling sales in two years.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Developed strategy and led sales and service for the Islander Group. Identified opportunties to drive business and managed all aspects of relationships between the The Islander Group and retailers. Led cross functional team efforts which included negotiations, product curation and presentation, and contributions to product development. Categories included decorative home, housewares, souvenirs, books, sporting goods and health and beauty.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Developed merchandise and inventory strategy for Camping, Active and Market divisions in the reinvention of Gander Outdoors, representing $25 million in sales for 60 stores. Led a team of 6 buyers to execute the strategy to expand Gander’s traditional customer base to include first time and family campers, as well as entirely new paddle and cycle customers, and impulse front-end food and gift programs. Negotiated with key brands and vendors to drive margin while developing exclusive products and curating assortments at the new Gander. Categories include sleeping bags and pads, cots, tents, shelters, camp and cooking accessories, grills, coolers, containers, tailgating, chairs, backpacks, travel accessories, lighting, bikes, canoes and kayaks, skate, pets, eyewear, drones, electronic wearables, jerky, candy, snacks, beverages and gifts.Collaborated closely with visual, space, fixture, gearsmith (in store service) and marketing teams to achieve new vision and create excitement in stores and in local communities. Strengthened merchandising and inventory strategies of sister companies Camping World, Uncle Dan's and Rock Creek by leading cross merchandising efforts. Leveraged resources from The House and Camping World to efficiently manage cross over categories. Removed obstacles while navigating new and complex internal systems, to enable my team to focus on successfully opening stores and driving sales.

Minneapolis

Led sales and service for Target, Mills Fleet Farm, SuperValu and Blain’s at Westfield Outdoors, one of the world's largest manufacturers of outdoor furniture, tents, coolers and backpacks. Managed cross-functional PD&D team at Westfield, collaborating with retailer merchandising, sourcing and design teams to deliver differentiated products, and enable retailers to win at omni channel retail. Drove substantial sales and margin growth by forging and managing key relationships, strategizing, and developing product, pricing, promotional and distribution offerings

Minneapolis, Mn

Drove profitable sales for Target and manufacturers through strategic thinking, collaboration and careful, detailed account management. Categories include sporting goods, camping, stationery and novelty. Led business development, marketing, negotiations and sales for key owned brand and national brand vendors, utilizing my signature strengths of relationship management and problem solving. Developed plans and forecasts, set objectives, and executed details to drive business goals of manufacturers and retailer.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Responsible for determining categories that are unique and critical to Target's customers in the new Alaska and Hawaii markets, including souvenirs, sporting goods, Aloha wear, housewares, home décor and entertainment. Sourced vendors and determined distribution strategy for Target's first stores outside the lower 48 states. Initiated and developed outstanding vendor relationships, marketing and merchandising strategies. Drove annual sales in Alaska and Hawaii of over $500M, well above chain performance in these high investment markets, including the largest annual sales increases in the company the past 3 years. Alaska and Hawaii stores are recognized as Target's most highly localized stores in the 1800 store chain, an area of focus for the company.

Minneapolis, Mn

Led a cross functional team to develop, source and merchandise home decor products from India, Europe, and Africa for a new and highly visible Global Bazaar program for Target, showcasing special decorative home products from around the world. Global Bazaar received rave reviews from Target's customers and the press, advancing the company's differentiation efforts and sales objectives.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Segmented Target's seasonal decor into distinct guest lifestyle statements in order to create excitement, drive loyalty and differentiate the assortment from the competition, driving mature sales over 14%. Reduced expansive vendor matrix by 20%, resulting in stronger vendor partnerships with the best vendors. Reduced skus by 25%, significantly lowering supply chain expenses.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Led Automotive merchandise planning team of business analysts and coordinators, responsible for managing over $250M in inventory. Reduced rainchecks, storage expenses and supply chain expenses.Received Golden Contribution award for exceeding all financial goals. Received Best Merchandising Team award, a highly coveted award given to one of over 80 merchandising teams that far exceeds financial goals while developing strong team members who have the critical skills to succeed in future career roles.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Responsible for P&L of over $150M in Food Storage and Cleaning Supplies.Negotiated Target exclusive programs with Rubbermaid and 3M, driving a sales increase of 8% in the cleaning category. Collaborated with designers to develop Michael Graves cleaning supplies. The Michael Graves toilet bowl brush was featured on the cover of Time Magazine!

Bachelor'S Degree, International Studies, East Asian Studies

Education record