Thomas Driver Email & Phone Number

Columbus, OH, US

Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area

Oversee the Real Estate Strategy & Analytics team for Knitwell Group, formerly Premium Brand Services, which includes the Ann Taylor, Loft, Talbots, Lane Bryant and Cacique brands. Our team provides financial and strategic oversight for real estate initiatives and decisions for each brand down to the store level.

Columbus, Ohio, United States

• Providing Financial and Geospatial analytical expertise by hiring and developing Segment Strategy Team, from analysts to managers, driving productivity by nurturing a highly inclusive culture ensuring team members feel.
• Embracing entrepreneurial spirit to stand up Segment Strategy function within the Strategy & Analytics team; optimizing a fleet of 4.5K+ apparel stores grouped into 4 Segments across 7 brands
• Ensuring advantageous and economical partnerships by overseeing contract negotiations and relationship with ESRI (GIS Mapping Software and Location Intelligence provider) and APT (business intelligence support, part of.
• Increasing fleet efficiency by leveraging BI partners to monitor customer behavior and interaction with the brands via multi-channel touchpoints. Developed models to track impact of store closings on customer shopping.
• Optimizing store fleet performance by preparing and presenting the annual Fleet Review for 7 brands, including market and store strategies, store-level reporting, fleet summaries, financial, and client value metrics
• Establishing clear parameters and strategic direction for evaluating opportunities for capital investment (50 new, relocation, and expansion projects per year) and lease renewals (~800/yr)

Columbus, Ohio Area

• Boosted EBITDA by $19M through designing and leading optimization plans and strategies for markets with underperforming stores and targeting sales transfer and rent reduction potential
• Collaborated with stakeholders to improve ROI by 53% by facilitating quarterly Real Estate Capital Expenditure Budget hind-sight analysis of projects by fiscal year and type
• Increased sales for impairment risk stores by 10% through partnering with Marketing, FP&A, and Stores to initiate a multi-faceted revitalization program
• Improved lease contract terms and conditions by creating ‘all-brands’ analytics tool to leverage strength of multiple brands during lease negotiations
• Reduced net build-out costs by 50% by partnering with Store Construction and Real Estate teams and creating and nurturing a vast network of vendors and professional service providers
• Integrated Real Estate Market Research function and improved analysis and reporting around market optimization, including sales cannibalization and accretion impacts

Columbus, Ohio, United States

• Averaged over $3.5 million in re-negotiated first year rent savings by analyzing 300+ lease renewals per year
• Presented lease renewal strategies for 30 stores per month, including income statement projections (proformas), market analysis, and site recommendations
• Generated $1M in savings by reducing operating expenditure throughout all poorly performing stores through conducting financial analysis, suggesting, and advancing rehabilitation strategies
• Improved store evaluation efficiency by %75 by partnering with Store Operations to create web-based survey for providing store and market evaluations and streamlining individual store proforma creation process
• Created ‘all-brands’ analytics tool to leverage strength of multiple brands during lease negotiations; drove $15M in rent savings and improved contract terms and conditions
• Conducted market optimization plans; evaluated competitor and co-tenant influence, forecasted sales and expenses along with cannibalization and sales transfer potential

Salinas, California Area

Columbus, Ohio Area

Master Of Business Administration - Mba

Graduated with Distinction

B.Sc. - In Business Administration: Marketing