Experience

Shiraleah

• United States
• Retail Apparel and Fashion
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Director Creative and Product Development

  • May 2005 - Present

  Conceptualized company direction and merchandising strategy for a lifestyle brand. Formed two distinctive company divisions: home/gift and fashion accessories. Directed and executed product development from conception to design to vendor negotiation, quality control, order management, visual presentation and catalog photography.Sourcing, Product Development and Merchandising• Merchandised and developed products for a complete lifestyle assortment of giftware, tableware and home decorative accessories including furniture, wall décor and home textiles. • Designed and merchandised two yearly releases of a full line of fashion accessories containing more than 800 products each season. Collections include handbags and seasonal products such as cold weather (hats, gloves and scarves) and beach and resort products (cover-ups, summer hats and scarves). • Evaluated seasonal product performance and identified opportunities for new product categories and growth based on historical performance.Creative Direction• Directed overall creative identity for company from product design to creative direction for catalog, website, packaging, and consumer communications in support of the brand.• Directed and styled photo shoots for company catalog and marketing collateral. Management• Established company subsidiary office in Hong Kong whose focus is on product development, sourcing and design.• Managed and supervised a team of merchandisers and designers. • Successfully developed and managed a network of more than 100 manufacturers across Asia and Europe and formed business alliances with manufacturers resulting in favorable prices and payment terms.



VivaTerra International LLC

• Retail
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Buyer and Inventory Planner

  • Apr 2004 - Feb 2005

  Merchandising and Product Development• Merchandised catalog assortment with more than 30% proprietary products• Performed market research and competitive analysis on products and product categories• Identified emerging trends and developed business and merchandising strategy outlining strengths, weaknesses, new opportunities and threats. Recommended seasonal and core product mix for each department.• Evaluated vendors, established and maintained vendor relationships, and conducted final negotiations with suppliers and agents, both domestic and international.• Spearheaded product development with overseas manufacturers.• Finalized assortment plan and product details, assigned retail prices, identified high importance products (big bets), and ensured that product depictions in catalog are in line with projections and buy plan.Inventory Management and Operations• Led implementation of purchase order system and set-up data structure, inventory receiving and fulfillment guidelines with third-party fulfillment company. • Recommended and implemented buy strategy based on sales curve submitted by marketing manager.• Determined departmental sku sales projections and product assortment and identified and implemented item curves when appropriate.• Set up weeks-on-hand and completed weekly status and open-to-buy reports for each department.• Managed sku product master for catalog, defined skus, and managed sku data input into database.• Analyzed and communicated seasonal cash needs and collaborated with financial manager on developing seasonal financial plans.• Resolved back orders by partnering with Customer Service and Fulfillment Center.• Evaluated and appraised performance: weekly performance recap reports and end-of-season per-square-inch analysis. Identified assortment edits and opportunities, merchandising strategies and markdowns to achieve department plans.• Evaluated and presented merchandising strategy based on product performance.