Mary Wallace Email and Phone Number

Pinnacle Award, Buying Team of the Year, Fiscal Year 2012 and 2011. Proven track record of growing business categories. Manages opportunities and risk to exceed sales and profitability plans. Builds and manages relationships with multiple external and internal partners. Partners with vendors to select product, forecast inventory needs, and ensure timely delivery. Negotiates best terms to drive sales and profit. Develops annual vendor plans and reviews progress with vendor and internal… Show more Pinnacle Award, Buying Team of the Year, Fiscal Year 2012 and 2011. Proven track record of growing business categories. Manages opportunities and risk to exceed sales and profitability plans. Builds and manages relationships with multiple external and internal partners. Partners with vendors to select product, forecast inventory needs, and ensure timely delivery. Negotiates best terms to drive sales and profit. Develops annual vendor plans and reviews progress with vendor and internal management quarterly. Monitors vendor performance weekly to surface risks. Collaborates with vendor management teams to take calculated risks and develops associated backup plans. Negotiations with vendor leadership teams have led to securing incremental support to enable “best in class” store and marketing presentations.Develops comprehensive strategies for area of responsibility based on global company goals and objectives. Partners with planner to develop financial and vendor-specific plans to support strategies. Analyzes business history, forecasts future business trends, and provides regular and timely input to help planner determine plan details. Outlines game plan for achieving financial goals and business objectives, including merchandise assortment details, emerging trends, customer preferences, and competitive market analysis. Identifies business opportunities and risks in-season through analyzing sales performance, identifying trends, and gathering marketplace information. Builds creative solutions to maximize opportunities and limit liabilities. Executes monthly rolling forecast to present overview of current and future forecasted business to upper management. Compares bottoms-up business performance analysis with financial plans and history. Identifies and forecasts sales, margin, and inventory trends. Communicates opportunities and liabilities and secures management support as needed to leverage internal resources to achieve goals as changing circumstances merit. Show less

Pinnacle Award, Allocator of the Year, Fiscal Year 2008Maximized sales and inventory for Men’s area ($185M annual volume), Hard Home area ($133 M annual volume), and Guild ($61M annual volume). Identified opportunities to maximize sales, inventory, and margin by approaching business from both a global perspective and also analyzing business at the lowest detail level.Collaborated with Men’s Golf buyer, planner, and replenishment analyst to maximize branded and Pro Tour private label… Show more Pinnacle Award, Allocator of the Year, Fiscal Year 2008Maximized sales and inventory for Men’s area ($185M annual volume), Hard Home area ($133 M annual volume), and Guild ($61M annual volume). Identified opportunities to maximize sales, inventory, and margin by approaching business from both a global perspective and also analyzing business at the lowest detail level.Collaborated with Men’s Golf buyer, planner, and replenishment analyst to maximize branded and Pro Tour private label golf business through store and cluster analysis, which led to adjustments to store plans, receipt penetration, and flow. Took active lead in corporate allocation while embracing additional responsibilities: providing on-the-job training for new allocators to ensure a smooth transition to their roles in new areas, participating in committees to improve processes and introduce new enhancements to peers, and participating in selective training and development program.Partnered with internal teams and external vendor (Polo Ralph Lauren) to help transition to new ordering system.Collaborated with buying, planning, and replenishment teams to maintain optimal stock levels for all advertised merchandise. Maximized sales by performing location analysis, allocating product, and securing reorders as needed. Show less

Assistant Buyer for Moderate Career Collections and Moderate Casual areas of feminine apparel. Worked with private brands, planning, and allocation to introduce innovations to maximize sales, including planning and execution of Mega Item (over 1M unit) buys, initiation of delayed allocation, creation of visual table plans for stores, and implementation of “year-round” styles. Mega Item sales totaled 1.6M units ($17M) and exceeded plan by 15%.Collaborated and acted as liaison between… Show more Assistant Buyer for Moderate Career Collections and Moderate Casual areas of feminine apparel. Worked with private brands, planning, and allocation to introduce innovations to maximize sales, including planning and execution of Mega Item (over 1M unit) buys, initiation of delayed allocation, creation of visual table plans for stores, and implementation of “year-round” styles. Mega Item sales totaled 1.6M units ($17M) and exceeded plan by 15%.Collaborated and acted as liaison between buying, planning, allocation, replenishment, private brands, and visual teams to develop replenishment-driven casual Pant Shop and Denim Shop concepts for Fall 2006 (sales $2.1M, 24% over plan; Denim Shop sales $9.1M, 42% over plan). Shop concept facilitated customer identification of product, fit, brand, and price.Created cohesive buys for private brands and branded vendors including Fall 2006 $5.5M branded and private brands key item sweater buys and $7.4M private brands mega item knits buy. Accounted for collection assortment, budget constraints, differing needs of stores, and floor merchandising plans when selecting merchandise.Managed entire buying area while buyer was on medical leave; upon recommendation from management, received letter of recognition from Chief Merchandising Officer and bonus for exceeding regular duties. Show less

Solely responsible for high-visibility Eileen Fisher vendor with $12M annual sales; sales up 27% for spring 2002. Supported buyer with multiple high-profile branded vendors and private brand collections.Took active leadership role in division. Coordinated rolling forecast analysis and roll-up of all buyers for bridge division. Chosen to participate as the bridge division delegate for the “train the trainer” program for new system rollouts.