Michael Gillespie Email & Phone Number

Decorah, Iowa, United States

Took on a front-line role with this multinational retail corporation in an $80 million location to renew customer-facing experience, tackling the challenge of a new market amid global challenges.🔹 BUSINESS PLANNING 🔹 ▲Enhanced store operations, managing an $80 million location through collaborating with associates at all levels, leading technology and business initiatives, and implementing solutions.🔹 SALES & MARGIN GROWTH 🔹 ▲Achieved sales and profit goals, supporting business plans and evaluating P&L to improve financial performance and meet customer needs.

Spring Grove, Minnesota, United States

Joined this family-owned independent bottler and producer of handcraft soda operating in Southeastern Minnesota since 1895. Networked with major retailers in various markets to boost sales performance by over 600%.🔹 SALES & MARGIN GROWTH 🔹 ▲ Expanded into the Twin Cities market, drawing on a vast network and creative strategies to negotiate agreements with all major retailers as well as local cafes, micro-breweries and distilleries.▲ Negotiated and landed a contract with Anheuser-Busch Distributors and grew the company footprint to include Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and North Dakota. 🔹 CATEGORY SALES GROWTH 🔹 ▲ Propelled the distribution of cases from 800 to 5000 in one year and implemented promotional planning and strategic sales to reach 9000 by year two. ▲ Netted 16,000 in annual case distribution within three years by partnering with the owner to build out processes, implement efficiencies, and streamline production through expansion and scaling. 🔹 PEOPLE & PROJECT LEADERSHIP 🔹▲ Initiated team development initiatives, including connecting with the local college to recruit interns, cultivating both professional and organizational growth.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Promoted to manage center store category profitability for this third-generation, family-owned group of supermarkets in the Minnesota metro area. 🔹 CATEGORY BUSINESS PLANNING 🔹▲ Category Planning: Strategized category plans for 85% of organizational revenue and consistently exceeded gross profit dollars and percentages in all categories.▲ Financial Leadership & Budgeting: Administered annual budgets of up to $5M, driving sales, profit, GAP, and vendor spending results to their peak.▲ Profitable Strategies: Rolled out category and business plans that targeted profit makers and prioritized profitable annual events, promotions, and customer events. 🔹 SALES & MARGIN GROWTH 🔹▲ Margin Growth: Navigated narrow margins by drawing on industry and customer insights to inform category strategies, achieving stringent profitability targets of up to $1M.▲ Profit Growth: Transformed 28+ stores into strong profit-makers through collaboration, identifying improvements, and highlighting exclusive category products to surpass competitors.▲ Sourcing & Revenue Growth: Employed expertise across marketing trends and product sourcing to create multiple revenue streams of up to $150,000 annually.▲ Cost Savings: Elevated performance standards by creating organizational policies, implementing training programs, and developing informational tools that resulted in $300,000 to $500,000 in savings.🔹 PEOPLE & PROJECT LEADERSHIP 🔹▲ Project Management: Took on complex corporate projects, championed improvement opportunities and Six Sigma strategies, and steered initiatives to increase revenue and eliminate operational inefficiencies. ▲ Team Culture: Nurtured a culture of collaboration, accountability, and team spirit; empowered teams to exceed plan benchmarks and obtain 25-30% quarterly profits. ▲ Team Training & Development: Designed creative training while providing hands-on support to improve performance and guide personnel into advanced positions.

Burnsville, Bloomington, & Eagan, Minnesota Sores