Ted Smetana (He/Him) Email & Phone Number

Eagan, Minnesota, US

Lead Merchandising, Marketing and Brand & Creative departments.

Providing guidance to retail, consumer goods and service companies including go-to-market strategies, business operations and organizational transformation.Senior Partner with Simpactful Consulting helping consumer products companies ignite and enhance go to market strategies and operations.

Boston, Massachusetts, US

Lovepop combines art and engineering to stretch the boundaries of the imagination and create magical greeting cards and gifts that bring people together. Whether you’re celebrating a holiday, an important milestone, or an everyday moment, Lovepop aims to inspire you to share love with our amazing designs.

Boston, Massachusetts, US

Leading consumer insights, line and assortment planning, design investments, key account management and licensed partnerships.

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Accountable Leader for Seasonal Merchandising and Front-end Checklanes $8b annually and consistently grew sales higher than company comps
• Led Strategy and Management of physical store space for the Enterprise. Built future store prototypes for over 1,000 remodels and new stores in 3 years; directed category space recommendations and the development of a.
• Designed and activated transformation of 300+ global team in Space | Presentation; defined geo-local capabilities, overhauled processes, standardized routines, directed and prioritized product development teams to.
• Oversaw operating model transformation across Merchandising teams; designed and implemented an expert-based model across buying, merchandising, planning, procurement and inventory management functions
• Led Product teams in the development of a proprietary assortment planning platform in service to stores and Target.com; improving selection and unlocking efficiency

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Led operational turn-around efforts in Target Canada; on the Leadership Team, 1,000bps improvement of instocks and $300mil+ in inventory reduction
• Prioritized focus and investments on senior leadership team with head Merchandising, Stores and Marketing
• Successful activation and deployment of demand planning and forecasting solution for 150+ Merchandise Planning team - responsible for overhauling routines, responsibilities and execution

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Led financial and inventory planning for center store grocery ($10B in sales) delivering green instocks, markdown and profit management, flawless transition execution

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Developed and executed long range Store Segmentation financial plan with a goal of driving $5B in sales over 5 years, launching major Hispanic consumer initiative

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Launched a business analytics and insights team that developed key company initiatives including hyper-segmentation and brand switching decision tool/process
• Engaged in multiple special projects: grew sales by over 5% in basic apparel, optimized Toys Q4 promotional spending to grow sales and improve margin by 100bps

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Led Core Toys ($2B in sales) team to improve sales and share as well as beat GM% Plan
• Created, developed and implemented Tier 1 Corporate Licensing strategy which included a first-ever multi-million-dollar custom animation for Toy Story 3 and first-ever, Toys visual impact focal which drove 20% sales.

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Orchestrated Partnerships and Strategic Negotiations in Home categories with focus on exclusive brands – Décor, Appliances, Bedding and Furniture; improved top line growth by over 5% and achieved profit goals

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Profit and Loss Accountability for multiple $200mil+ categories: Personal Care, Vitamins, Nutrition
• Redefined Target’s active and everyday nutrition strategy; grew the business by over 30% and launched Performance Nutrition segment ($250M).

Chicago, Illinois, US

• Select Engagements:A multi-billion dollar office superstore selling targeting small office and home users
• Led profit improvement initiative for two categories in business machine products (e.g. printers, scanners) generating over $30 million in gross margin improvements
• Managed integrated consultant and client team through category management strategies: competitive benchmarking, pricing and merchandising reviews, and vendor negotiations
• Designed and implemented a revised pricing strategy for a core product line generating 10% of the total savingsThe leading U.S. manufacturer of food service containers and consumer disposables
• Managed a client-integrated, supply chain diagnostic in which the six-person team assessed customer service, warehouse, transportation and logistics practices. Identified $15-30 million in net profit opportunities
• Developed international market assessment to review both manufacturing/supply opportunities as well as potential long term demand generation. Key market focus included: Mexico, China, Malaysia and IndiaA multi-billion.

• Hired into Executive Training Program. Prior to corporate positions, managed two retail operations at Mall of America with 20 sales associates. Led integration of marketing group with Request Magazine to create revenue.
• Constructed multi-media sponsorship and promotion packages leveraging in-store real estate and video programming, forming alliances with Request Magazine, major record distributors, studios, and home video companies
• Created, developed, negotiated, sold and executed a national new music search (unsigned talent), performed in conjunction with a snowboard championship, and broadcast on nationally syndicated TV. Sponsors included.

M.B.A., Business -- Finance And Marketing

Bachelor'S Degree, Political Science

Certified Strategic Negotiator