Director of Merchandise

The Director of Merchandise works closely with Sr. Management to deliver on brand merchandise selection for Lammle’s Western Wear. The Director of Merchandise primary principal responsibilities are in: Merchant Muscle, Operational Excellence, Customer Focus, and People First.
- **Responsibilities**:

- Merchant Muscle- Significant product knowledge of all product categories
- Full comprehension of competitors product positioning, pricing and product lines
- Curates strong merchandise stories and alignment on product category prioritization
- Creates yearly product promotion calendar to stimulate season sales and new products
- In partnership with the Director of Retail, communicate and support company promotions through weekly product flow, setting targets with the Merchandise Buyers
- Influence and support the creation and maintenance of Visual standard guidelines to align with company objectives
- Reviews inventory turns on a monthly basis to determine appropriate markdowns to achieve and markdown targets.
- Keep core product in stores at all times and work with suppliers to ensure forecasting of the needs of these products are in place at all times-
- Keep an accurate profile of each brands delivery by month.
- Maintain the proper amount of inventory in each store while being aware of the season and local events that will influence sales and product volume demand- Operational Excellence- Analyze sales performance by class and store
- Ensure that merchandise is priced, quality competitive and current-
- Attend trade show’s with Buying team and stay up to date on the latest and future trends
- Determine A, B and C stores and evaluate their replenishment needs
- Develop positive supplier relationships. Negotiate prices, terms and agreements with vendors
- Work with vendors on special buys for trending items
- Negotiate exclusivity wherever possible
- Improve the business process for each department through analysis and collaboration.
- Involved in long-term business/people planning at the managerial and executive level.-
- Keep inventory in line with the budget as well as in line with the store needs and capacity
- Maintain gross margin targets
- Forecast prices and market trends in order to meet seasonal buys in advance.-
- Collaborates with Sr Management to develop budgets, specific programs and sales targets.
- Collaborates in the creation of annual planning calendars
- Establishes, in partnership with Sr. leadership, weekly, monthly and yearly targets to act as a guideline that enables measurement of individual and group performance.
- Leads the direction/execution of the Merchandise Buying team to deliver operational excellence through tools and resources
- Supports company’s policies and procedures-
- Keep Warehouse Manager informed of important incoming product from stores or vendors.
- Monitor the progress of orders with suppliers to ensure they are arriving on the requested delivery date and complete.
- Perform physical quality check upon arrival to ensure the brand standards are being met.
- Contact vendor with any issues and work out terms of a return authorization.
- Allocate inventory to the correct store in regards to the store profile.- Customer Focus- Works with Marketing Manager to keep up with the latest trends and fashions in each category
- Collaborate with Director of Retail to better understand any customer concerns pertaining to merchandise trends, quality or frequent customer requests
- Has an exceptional comprehension of Lammle’s Western Wear’s customer demographic and ensures uses this filter when selecting merchandise- People First- Empower, lead and challenges the Buying team to meet and exceed performance expectations
- Train, coach and develop direct reports to support succession planning and stabilize bench strength
- Create and maintain a positive team environment whose players are passionate about our performance culture. Represent Lammle's in a professional and positive manner, by making the company mission statement our driving force
- Partners with Sr. leadership on annual performance evaluations, development plans and reward programs.

** Skills**:

- Ability to manage multiple priorities in an organized and timely fashion with proven track record of delivering on projects and process improvements
- Excellent communication and organizational skills
- A creative problem solver, pro-active and able to use initiative to develop solutions
- Demonstrated team-building skills including experience in goal setting, motivating, leading, evaluating and developing a high-performance team.