Matt Schleede Email & Phone Number

Greater Seattle Area

• Provide leadership to all inventory management for the University Book Store, Inc. Responsible for leading the buying team across all categories of course materials, gifts, insignia, trade and student/art supplies.
• Successfully manage multiple key projects simultaneously: most recently the creation of a new physical ‘student store’, including merchandising, design/layout, internal process improvement and staffing plans
• Provide strategic and budgetary leadership: develop merchandising strategies for five major categories and establish inventory, sales and profitability budgets for all categories and store locations
• Provide effective, honest communication and creative solutions to new challenges and opportunities: manage a retail buying team of 10 staff, develop buying plans, collaborate creatively to identify creative solutions.
• Analyze data and make informed decisions: Ensure timeliness and accuracy of purchase order creation, vendor payment and invoicing, data integrity, on-hand stock counts and physical inventory counts.
• Responsible for the digital transformation for 4 higher education institutions, including strategic initiatives, launching new business models, delivery methods, committee participation, organic growth and satisfaction.

Seattle, Washington

I oversee Course Materials for 4 colleges and universities and 6 Private high schools at 4 different store locations across the Puget Sound region. We serve roughly 55,000 students per academic term.My main responsibilities include, campus partnerships, vendor relations, profit & loss, strategic leadership, procurement & supply chain and digital.

Allendale, MI

• Managed large-scale inventory of more than 60,000 units across 3 store locations serving Grand Valley State University and Grand Rapids Community College. Led implementation of strategic initiatives to better serve.
• Created and implemented in-house rental program that began with 300 titles and grew to over 10,000 titles per semester. Increased customer satisfaction and drove profitable growth by creating the program in-house.
• Developed a delayed billing system to allow students to utilize financial aid to purchase course materials. Served more than 1500 students each year through this program.
• Responsible for the creation on an online textbook marketplace utilizing Monsoon software. Grew our online marketplace from $3,000 in sales during the first year to over $1,000,000 in sales 5 years later.

Holland MI

• Assisted customers with purchases and returns, answered questions, and operated cash register
• Stocked and maintained shelves
• Managed the Newsstand including magazines, newspapers, displays, and an additional quarter of the book floor
• Processed returns of books and magazines
• Set-up scripted displays

Michigan

• Ran buyback for smaller colleges in southeast Michigan
• Supervised thousands of dollars of merchandise and funds
• Made decisions regarding books purchased
• Boxed and shipped textbooks to wholesale company warehouse

Mt Pleasant MI

• Co-wrote business plan, secured financial backing of the CMU Bookstore and built a video rental store located in the main freshman dorms on campus
• Hired, trained, and terminated employees; managed weekly schedules in cooperation with multiple managers
• Created purchase orders and ordered merchandise
• Filled out deposit slips and counted till down
• Worked directly with distributors

Mt. Pleasant Mi

• Checked in and received books and general merchandise
• Assisted customers with questions, comments, and concerns
• Processed and filled general merchandise orders for customers through mail order
• Updated inventory of textbooks and general merchandise annually