Ray Yager Email & Phone Number

Huntington Beach, Ca, Us

Huntington Beach, Ca, Us

Direction of all aspects of merchandising and catalog production of the company's 8 catalog lines while simultaneously serving as Director of Merchandising, Marketing and Public Relations. Oversaw product and vendor selection, pricing and positioning of products, product mix, sales analysis, vendor relations, and much more. Identified new product and private label product opportunities and worked with product development team, purchasing, and the art department to bring new Classic Industries products to market. Oversee and direct brand managers, marketing manager, catalog production manager, domestic and overseas sourcing teams and coordinate work with purchasing dept, sales and tech departments as needed. Team leader responsible for the concept and creation of three new catalog lines, Mopar, Gen 5 Camaro and Tri-Five Chevrolet over a 3 year period. Responsible for concept and creation of Advantage Plus B2B Trade program. Responsible for launch and oversight of the company's Facebook site and other social media initiatives. Direction of marketing team responsible for marketing materials, media releases, trade show materials, PR, media relations. Development and implementation of new strategies for enhancing company image and improving marketing efforts at trade and car shows. Development of new strategies for catalog production, catalog circulation and promotions. Direct 20+ team members in Merchandising, Product Development, Marketing, and Art Departments.

Team leader in charge of directing the merchandising group whose responsibility is domestic and overseas sourcing of products for the OER Authorized line. Responsible for concept, development, merchandising and marketing of private label car cover, paint, chemical and car care lines from concept through creation for the OER brand. Deeply involved in the selection and sourcing of private label products as well as initiating the manufacturing of new products under both the OER and OER Authorized brands. Team leader responsible for development and implementation of marketing strategies and development of marketing materials. Director of catalog production and research teams. Directed the development of trade show marketing materials, strategies. Collection of manufacturing and supplier leads as well as other merchandising functions. Coordination of media events and management of media relations. Directed 20+ team members in Merchandising, Product Development, Marketing, and Art Departments.

Westminster, Ca, Us

Assistant to the CEO. Directly responsible for development and implementation of licensing program, marketing strategies, development of the corporate website, corporate logo design, marketing materials, research, coordination of public relations, media, events, and legal research for trademark holding company whose core assets include Yenko, SYC and other automotive industry related trademarks owned by the company.

Huntington Beach, Ca, Us

Directed the sourcing of product, the development of vendor relationships, and the production of 5 catalog lines including Camaro, Firebird, Nova, Chevy Truck and Impala. Responsible for directing merchandising team, oversight of product and vendor selection, coordination of catalog production including implementation of various improvements in workflow and procedure. Implemented new strategies for merchandising including the concept and development of the merchandising department, training of staff in cataloging/merchandising techniques and related business strategies and philosophies. Team leader responsible for managing both the art and merchandising departments consisting of a team of 10-12 people.

Effingham, Il, Us

Responsible for development of the Volkswagen brand from concept through creation of the catalog including all merchandising, private label product development, vendor selection, catalog layout, etc. Directed merchandising and cataloging of Volkswagen brand and Porsche brand for the company. Responsible for the organization of the first Volkswagen car show event for the company, called Bugfest and later named Funfest for Beetle. Coordinated efforts between merchandising team and art department in regards to catalog development.

Managing Partner/Founder of family owned and operated VW parts business specializing in air-cooled VW's with an emphasis on 1950-79 VW Beetle, Super Beetle, Karmann Ghia parts. Business was developed as a part time venture/hobby and developed into a full time business. Initially operating out of storage trailers and through exhibiting at swap meets, the business quickly grew into a brick and mortar operation when the decision was made to rent a small shop and hire a full time mechanic to do repairs and restorations to better serve our customers. Eventually, we grew into one of the largest VW air-cooled salvage yards in the Southeastern United States with over 10 acres and approx 1,000 parts cars and became well known throughout the 1990's and into the 2000's as a mail order operation shipping parts and accessories worldwide. In the 1990's, the company began manufacturing fiberglass accessories, such as body panels, bumpers, fenders, deck lids, sunvisors, buggy bodies, etc. which were sold through a catalog that was offered in print ads in both Hot VW's and VW Trends magazine. The company became the originators of the "Smooth Dash" aka "Cal-look Dash" for Beetle, a product that is still being manufactured and sold by imitators today. The company also conducted restorations of VW's and is responsible for restoring or repairing and reselling hundreds, if not thousands of VW's to date. The fiberglass manufacturing ceased in the late 1990's while the salvage yard was dismantled in 2012. Much inventory of used parts remains and a scaled back operation is still run by the family today in a location near the original yard that local area VW enthusiasts became dependent on for parts over the company's 25 year history in the VW parts business.