Tom Tester Email & Phone Number

North Carolina, United States

Salisbury, North Carolina, United States

Supports Ahold Delhaize USA’s brands which include over 2,000 grocery stores & $58 Billion in annual sales. (15th largest retailer in the world)Provides leadership to cross-brand Planogram Teams and manage the accuracy of planograms to achieve: customer satisfaction by market area, maximize profitable sales, utilize space efficiently, and provide optimized inventory allocationLeads in the establishment of clearly defined rule sets, guidelines, and processes; delivers planograms that have the right product placed in the right stores to drive sales and consumer metrics; ensures planograms align with customer decision trees and assortment optimization decisions.Collaborates with Brand Managers and Category Teams to ensure a clear understanding of the planogram rule sets, standards and prioritization, obtains regular feedback, and incorporates feedback into the continuous improvement programAligns assortment with macro / micro floor plan decisions with the planogram rule sets and standards, driving efficient end-to-end product and placement systems and processesManages the scheduling of category merchandising plans and associated activities (New and Discontinued Items, Category Reviews, etc.), balancing business needs, financial impacts, and resources requirementsCollaborates in developing new systems to streamline the planogram process using alternative software, corporate systems, data analytic systems, planogram, and analysis processes as well as all standards and expectations.Develops and maintains open lines of communication through Center Store and Fresh Category Leadership, Retail Implementation Teams, Replenishment, Pricing, and the CAO Team in the coordination of category, merchandising, and retail implementation plans.Provides strategic direction, tactical implementation, and thought leadership for the Assortment Support organization.Fosters a strong performance management culture and develops a thought leadership culture

The Space Planning Community is a group of professionals dedicated to the growth and advancement of the Space Planning industry through education, thought leadership, cross-vertical retail partnerships and networking. Founded as a Charter in 2022, this community was established as a part of ARC, the Association of Retail and Consumer Professionals, along with sister organizations, CMA, Category Management Association and the Retail Dietitians Alliance.

Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

Review potential client shelf-edge operations for potential best-in-class material introductionRecommend appropriate Vestcom solutions for implementationEstimate the value proposition associated with solution implementation (sales growth, labor reduction)Create and deliver presentations via phone or on-site at vendor location SVP / EVP level audiencesBuild best practices for the evaluation of potential client operations, value models and presentationsSpearhead the creation of document templates for client discovery and engagementOwn Microsoft Teams site for Business Development Team

Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina Area

Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina Area

Facilitated project management for project rollouts by collaborating with Project Management, Store Operations, Real Estate, Store Planning, Construction, Design, Vendors, and Marketing Designed new fixtures / displays as well as accompanying graphics/ rollout programsLed company redesign of shelf edge (strips and tags) program from genesis to rolloutSpearheaded multiple phases of Store Renewal Program (Remodels)Measured, analyzed and determined ideal macro and micro space optimization levelsDrove Space Management in the establishment of standards, processes and procedures

Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina Area

Established production timelines by which Planograms are created and executedEstablished reset procedures within store operationsFully Integrated Spaceman (AC Nielsen) Space Planning Suite into Fresh Market systemsCreated New Store and Remodel Project plans to establish deliverables and standardsLed efforts to customize Spaceman software to optimized configuration for companySpearheaded competitive space analysis at the department and category level for presentation Led creation of Space Productivity Analytics, improving productivity by 11% on a two-year stack basisServed as a Subject Matter Expert for several committees not related to Space ManagementManaged team of 4 direct reports (2 internal / 2 external)

Matthews, North Carolina

Responsible for scope development, project planning, consensus building and store execution of all Strategic Merchandising Plans as designated by functional business leadersMigrated multiple Third-Party service providers to one common reporting platform, along with the accompanying reporting, giving one view of third-party vendor performanceDeveloped process maps, standards of execution, standardized documentation, and workflow streams to ensure flawless execution at the shelfLed RFP process to onboard and expand third-party service vendors, while reducing overall costsLed third-party service metric improvements, implemented issue management portalEstablished, reviewed and maintained responsibility for the operating budget

Matthews, North Carolina

Led Visual Merchandising team in the conception, development, creation and implementation of planograms using SAC Database, Spaceman (AC Nielsen) Space PlanningLed efforts to evaluate and determine proper macro space allocationsSpearheaded competitive space analysis to the category level for presentation to executivesImproved Space Productivity consistently on a year-over-year basisSubject Matter Expert for Visual Merchandising on all Strategic Merchandising Plans

Mooresville, Nc

Created, delivered and evaluated vendor purchase/sales forecastsResponsible for forecast accuracy, and program troubleshooting for 4500 item groupFacilitated cross-departmental consensus sales and margin forecasting

Mooresville, North Carolina

Responsible for setting, creating, evaluating, and publishing planograms for Tools Division Assisted in category walks, product line reviews, resets, and new store setsResponsible for visual merchandising standards in all planograms with regards to customer demand, merchandising direction, visual appeal, space utilization, price or product progression

North Wilkesboro, North Carolina

Assisted in Product Line Reviews, analyzed trade data, and promotional efficacyReduced Lowe’s Days of Supply by 20% while maintaining a 98% service levelPerformed what-if logistics scenarios, supported Lowe’s team on site

North Wilkesboro / Mooresville, North Carolina

Replenishment Specialist - Rough PlumbingParticipated in Disaster Command Center during disaster situations Successfully completed ISIT (Inventory Specialist in Training) programParticipated in Merchandising Product Line Review ProcessEnsured replenishment and service levels meet or exceed company standards of 98%Compiled vendor purchase orders, forecasts, projections, performance reporting, DART, AccessSpecial Order SalesResponsible for creation, approval, production, and distribution of vendor-specific paper catalogsHandled all Special order vendors for roughly half of a 120K storeConducted training for members of merchandising team Participated in Appliance data standardization project in conjunction with lowes.com

Oversaw recruiting, screening, hiring, training and development of store staff of 35-40 associatesAccountable for merchandising, inventory control, customer service, P&L, HR in a 6M retail store Selected as District Facilitator-created, developed, delivered and evaluated trainings / symposiumsResponsible for training, operations, and merchandising set up for 7 new stores / remerchandisingWon Operational Excellence Award-2001, and #2 in Regional Store of Year-2001Won Host Store Award 2001 for producing the most manager trainees