Mark Van Guyse Email & Phone Number

Principal

Provide top quality representation for various manufacturers to many different retail channels, ranging from mass market to specialty and ecommerce. Specializing in both domestic and import distribution methods. Provide experienced consultation to both manufacturers and retailers in the areas of category management, merchandising, sourcing, distribution, and product development.

Northbrook, Il

Responsible for all aspects of the business in regards to interaction with our retail partners. This includes: Sourcing( in the US and abroad), Product Development, Merchandising and Sales. Responsible for Miss Spa brand as well as Private and Control Brands in the Beauty, Footwear, Soft Goods, Home Decor, and Seasonal categories. Direct Snapmarketing which provides consulting services, sales representation, and custom presentation work to vendors and factories.

Responsible for driving and managing sales in total of $750M for Stationery, Writing Instruments, Luggage, Rainwear, Umbrellas, As Seen On TV, and Furnishings. Other categories managed include: Christmas Seasonal, Seasonal Lighting, Spring and Summer Toys, and Candles.Reviewed the categories for new opportunities including new items, in-store product position and implementing the best in class planograms.Drove overall go-to-market development, planning and execution of several products and programs in several categories Created "Corner Office" stationery brand which grew an average of 20%/year in sales over three years, to become a $90m/year brand.Created "Patriot Candle" brand which has sold over $100m in product.Developed exclusive "It's a Wonderful Life" Christmas merchandise program which produced over $20m in sales.Successfully made Walgreens the fifth most popular retail destination for the Back-to-School season.Increased sales of Back-to-School business by an average of $6m/year. Sourced product all over the world and reduced cost of goods in Stationery by $20m over first three years in categoryReduced inventory by $15m while maintaining all productivities with no interruption to store delivery schedules. Negotiated an agreement to become the exclusive retailer of Crayola poster board while using our current source to help mitigate the royalty cost, The basic department grew 30% in sales and profit over the first year of the program..Expanded the Spring/Summer Toy Category from $7m to over $60m in sales by expanding the assortment and increasing marketing emphasis. Received 2003 Walgreens Purchasing Creativity Award

Assisted in all aspects of Category Management for the categories of Christmas Trim a Tree, Seasonal Lighting, Candles, Pesticides, and Lawn and Garden.Developed ad-hoc reports to review sales and profit analysis for annual seasonal buying comparison year over yearProposed seasonal pricing strategy, product flow, merchandising and seasonal carry-over roadmap. Nationally managed in-store product placement of Christmas merchandise.Created Heavy Duty Ice Light products which became the most profitable lighting items in the program.

Created planograms in basic and seasonal departments for a wide variety of product categories. Controlled inventory at distribution center and store level for various categories exceeding $50mCreated and allocated purchase orders for domestic and import items for distribution centersManaged inventory levels within many product categories in the distribution center, decreasing inventory levels while maintaining service levels.Controlled distributions of product to stores from the distribution centers. Negotiated vendor cash and order minimum termsManaged weekly overdue purchase order, forecast tolerance, and out of stock reportsResolved daily conflicts between warehouses, vendors and storesCreated merchandising planograms for basic department and promo aislesControlled start up distributions for new planograms

Managed buying, merchandising and advertising programs with direct to store vendors for many regional markets.Created the Walgreen brand Water program in 1 and 2.5 gallon sizes. - Sourced water from 6 different sources and used 13 different distributors to allow national advertising without stressing Walgreens distribution system. Program is worth $15m in sales. Created all planograms for freezer and coolers in specific marketsManaged Grand Opening Programs.Managed operations between stores and regional vendorsNegotiated merchandising and marketing programs with regional vendorsPlanned and executed local print ads

Managed the Walgreens reordering systemAssisted reorder buyers with system issuesCreated system procedures and manualsManaged distribution of PO's to vendors

Managed the day to day operations of stores nationwide many different stores in the chain, including the number one store in sales and profitManaged store payrollOrdered product for many areas of the storeManaged the cash handling of store employeesManaged staff schedulesOpen and closed storesManaged daily operations