Stephen Prang Email & Phone Number

Woodridge, Illinois, United States

Streamwood And Bloomingdale, Illlinois

Contributed P&L oversight for department operations (entertainment, consumables, front-end, overnight and replenishment) for an $82M store including revenue growth, budgeting, profit performance, merchandising, sales, customer satisfaction, public relations, marketing, shrink, staff development and regulatory compliance for this high volume store. Supervised a staff of 20 to 60 direct reports; recruited, hired, directed and provided leadership to personnel; developed training curricula, instructing employees regarding effective sales techniques and providing prompt and courteous customer service; monitored and assessed staff performance. Bottom line accountability for all department operations; performed budget, sales and marketing analyses. Developed department plans in line with corporate initiatives to maximize revenues and ensure that productivity/sales objectives are met and exceeded. Built and maintained ongoing relationships with customers through professional service and extensive follow-up contact; encouraged repeat business opportunities.• Eliminated 55 pallets of non-productive entertainment inventory by 80% in six months.• Led sales on a district-wide basis for percentage increase in the entertainment department.• Successfully implemented a mechanized unloader to sort merchandise by aisle; re-allocated payroll and increased labor efficiency.• Transformed front-end store operations; increased self-check registers from eight to 24 and decreased cashier registers from 23 to eight, for increased operational efficiency.• Led the district as number one in self-checkout transactions during tenure.

Chicago, Illinois

Developed and implemented new inventory management performance processes to effectively reduce costs and increase resource allocation. Identified opportunities to improve inventory performance and in-stock performance through analysis and implementation at locations in major airports and Burlington Coat Factory stores. Recruited, hired, trained, developed and assessed performance of a staff of five while adhering to labor guidelines and budget requirements.• Created and implemented a monthly merchandise planning calendar to manage all merchandise planning and inventory activities.• Overhauled stock replenishment process for all active items which resulted in a 20% improvement of in-stock position; maintained industry leading turnover performance.• Developed and introduced new monthly reports that included aged inventory report that monitored inventory levels based on date of last receipt that resulted in improved inventory management.• Implemented new store opening processes related to inventory management that improved in-stock management and eliminated surplus inventory.Accomplishment:• Redesigned the order input process that incorporated vendor order processing time; reduced order processing time by more than 50%.

Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Spearheaded the improvement in total inventory performance and in-stock merchandise through analysis and implementation. Collaborated with business units to redesign and implement replenishment function; trained teams to achieve productivity goals.• Re-engineered processes used in Contract Sales division for home appliances. Established guidelines for purchasing coordinators; implemented new standards for reorder points which improved in-stock ratios and reduced inventory levels by 30%.• Redesigned fill rate report that provided weekly, month-to-date and yearly tracking of order fulfillment by distribution center, line and item. Coordinated training and guidelines for successful implementation.• Co-authored new job description including KPIs within the replenishment organization based on geographic replenishment.• Collaborated with Hardlines department to implement within the geographic replenishment; trained staff and implemented KPIs.• Developed and presented field training programs and inventory management workshops to more than 1,500 field managers.Accomplishment:• Developed improved replenishment program for appliances that resulted in a 40% reduction within three stores; established guidelines for expansion to all full-line stores.

Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Collaborated with a 20-member team to provide a complete analysis of the planning, assorting, replenishment, physical flow and sales within the Sears Supply Chain. Assisted the creation of new organizational design, processes, tools and system identification requirements to improve Sears inventory management performance.• Created parameters for store-level replenishment system. Provided the process for reorder points based on lifecycle data and use of exception reporting to improve in-stock time while optimizing inventory productivity.• Prioritized a promotional buying process and calendar utilizing Just-in-Time (JIT) arrival of promotional merchandise in stores with an improved in-stock position despite a reduction in days of Sears ownership.• Wrote and produced a CDI for all District and Store-level employees for inventory management and proper use of Sears inventory management system.Accomplishment:• Wrote and produced store order policy and procedure training for 48 trainers conducted nationally in more than 800 full-line stores. Personally trained 110 store general managers in six districts.

Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Successfully managed, performed troubleshooting, training and system development for selected areas of the corporate inventory management system.• Conducted more than 200 training sessions to field and store support staff for various elements of inventory management and systems.• Created and implemented multiple buying/replenishment programs for numerous line of merchandise; improved in-stock position and increased sales and turnover.

Bloomingdale And Chicago, Illinois

Provided high quality customer experiences, created and developed an exemplary management team. Identified and solved business challenges including P&L, with a staff of 10 direct reports and 300 employees.• Generated sales volumes of $18.9M and $30.0M; increased sales 28% during a three-year period and increased annual profits of more than 113%.• Successfully increased customer service scores by 20% by developing and implementing new programs.• Reduced employee turnover by 33% and 42% respectively; created store training programs; involved management and improved employee communications.Accomplishment:• Improved Service Contract sales from 21st to second in the Chicago district.