Experience

Home Essentials & Beyond

• United States
• Wholesale
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Buyer

  • Nov 2017 - Present



Maison Nee

• Greater New York City Area

• Home Products Director

  • Jun 2016 - Nov 2017

  A multi-disciplinary design & product development company, for apparel & home products- Maison Nee is a dedicated, one-stop, creative shop offering collection development, merchandising and branding help to position clients/ brands for optimum success. Projects- Strategic Brand Positioning & Marketing @ CG Worldwide Inc. - Repositioning specific brands to take advantage of white space opportunities in the marketplace. - Designing total assortment strategy, including building compelling and profitable product stories, identifying and negotiating brand collaborations/licensing agreements, creating and implementing best-in-class design and product development processes - Determining new and expanded business opportunities. Merchandising & Sourcing @ Comely International Inc. - Identified new product opportunities to enhance customer assortments and to take advantage of white space opportunities in the marketplace. - Identified manufacturing partners for new product categories and helped expand existing vendor base. - Closely monitored development of new products to help bring the new assortment to market. Show less



The Company Store

• United States
• Retail
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Director of Merchandising

  • Jul 2015 - May 2016

  • Responsible for new product growth initiatives and efforts to improve competitive positioning and profitability across brands and categories. • Assess, develop and implement new product concepts. • Analyze selling to determine non performing merchandise and present swap outs, based on business trends. • Develop/maintain a pipeline of swap outs by driving product newness, innovation and trends, by 1) Adding incremental relevant value to low performing items. 2) Adding new items to extend existing categories. • Collect trend and market analysis to determine white space and identify new business opportunities, by- 1) Expanding product categories in existing brands. 2) Ensuring a contemporary assortment to drive substantial customer growth. • Engage Merchandising/PD in evaluating new products, developing new market segments, and producing immediate and future product opportunities in a market that is highly competitive. • Direct Design/PD/Sourcing with strategic input for creation and execution of line extensions and new product introductions. Show less



WestPoint Home

• United States
• Manufacturing
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Director- Product Development

  • Jan 2012 - Mar 2015

  • Develop product lines for private/licensed brands, as well as customers ranging from high end department stores, specialty retailers to discount stores and off price channels.• Study retail assortments, to identify white space and develop product specifically to fill it.• Collaborate with Sales/Merchandising to determine fob targets and interface with Design/Sourcing to ensure products meet aesthetic, as well as cost targets.• Direct Design, Planning, Purchasing and QC for execution of in line/customer programs. Supervise design development, package components and spec sheets for production.• Travel extensively to mills and fabric shows globally (Europe & Orient). • Research markets and trade shows to identify preferred textiles and market trends. Research technologies applicable to product attributes & manufacturing processes to consistently innovate all product lines.• Work on getting maximum competitive advantage from owned facilities by identifying/using efficient cloths and developing products with the duty advantage features.• Work on optimizing contract manufacturer portfolio by a) Streamlining vendor matrix with ultimate goal of reducing costs; both real costs by being more important to a few key vendors, as well as sampling and set up costs for new vendors, and b) Development and implementation of Supplier Relationship Management strategies with strategic supply base.• Streamline packaging costs/deliveries in production by improving communication with cross functional teams • Create and implement integrated TNA calendars improved percentage of on time deliveries.• Evaluate and implement strategic solutions to support and streamline new product development efforts.• Evaluate the viability of manufacturing opportunities by on-site visits to domestic and international manufacturers. • Negotiate vendor price and review vendor compliance by monitoring the inspections of overseas production facilities. Show less

• Director- Product Development & Merchandising

  • Jan 2010 - Jan 2012

  • Responsible for researching markets, products and styles to identify preferred textiles, as well as new trends. And for costing products for private/licensed brands, as well as varied customer accounts to fit target retails.• Study retail assortments, to identify white space and develop product specifically to fill it.• Identified potential product opportunities to enhance customer product assortments and executed proactive product development of new and innovative products.• Directed Product Development, Purchasing, Planning and QC for execution of in line/customer programs.• Establish budgets and review interim benchmark reports to assure cost reductions are achieved without disrupting customer satisfaction• Assess the quality of sourced goods and the construction, fashion, style and texture of textiles produced internationally. • Evaluate the viability of manufacturing opportunities by on-site visits to domestic and international manufacturers. • Reviewed and analyzed vendor tracking systems that monitor performance and vendor scorecards. Established and led semi-annual vendor performance and compliance meetings in Asia.• Train product coordinators and assistants to better understand product spec, packaging details and assess quality of product/packaging. Show less

• Director- Global Supply Chain Management

  • Mar 2008 - Jan 2010

  • Managed sourcing and manufacturing (in the US & Asia) for a category of over $150MM sales. • Areas of focus included sourcing process design and optimization of contract manufacturer portfolio; defining the appropriate sourcing strategy, establishing the appropriate global organization to address/improve speed to market, lowering total landed cost, and enhancing innovation and overall product quality. • Developed and oversaw application of Strategic Sourcing processes and development of supplier relationships across the globe, to balance landed cost and speed to market. • Ensured global supply chain optimization; constantly evaluating contracted manufacturing facilities vs. potential ones.• Led the Asia office in devising sourcing strategies to effectively reduce costs and production lead times sample approvals • Created cost matrix analysis for improved communications and quick turn approvals on final costs for category merchants • Travelled extensively to mills and fabric shows globally to source new products.• ‘08- Evaluated relocation of two manufacturing facilities from US to China; implemented 2MM savings by successfully moving production from US owned facilities to a JV partner and various contract vendors in China.• ’09- Improved initial mark up (IMU) from 15% to 25% by strategically sourcing and leveraging fabrics, purchasing directly from new suppliers.• ’10- Led start up of change from Asia to Pakistan/India mills resulting in over $90K annual savings.• Optimized supply chain efficiency reducing timeline from 20 to 16 weeks and improved on time delivery from 85% to 96% by creating Product Calendars to track product development from pre production to market.• Increased human rights audits and factory compliance procedures and C-TPAT certification to 100% of all suppliers and agents • Re-engineered Manufacturing for Quality (MFQ) programs throughout manufacturing for 2.5 AQL level for majority defects. Show less

• Product Manager GSCM

  • Jun 2005 - Mar 2008

  • Created and distributed design development packages to generate costing and prototypes, as well as spec sheets for new items and managed their order generation. Responsible for assessing the quality of sourced goods and analyzing the construction, fashion, style and texture of textiles produced internationally by various vendors, and reviewed quality samples, manufacturing trials, production lead times and vendor profiles to asses viability of manufacturer in the process, assess the reliability of different vendors. • Negotiated price, reviewed vendor database and vendor compliance. Monitored the inspection process (and re-inspections) of foreign production facilities, as well as product testing.• Managed vendor compliance programs and set up vendor tracking systems that monitor performance and create vendor scorecards; maintained databases of vendor status reports. • Tracked and evaluated periodically databases of vendor status reports. Supervised certification of Asia, India and Middle Eastern mills for quality assurance and testing /worked with factories to correct quality issues and ensure compliance• Managed private label requirements of various retailers for product quality and manufacturing facility compliance.• Worked on projects and/or concepts for presentations; directed outside fabric/finished product/service to vendors with project description and parameters to obtain target pricing, fabric specs, quality samples for testing/sewing trials, customs classifications development and production lead times and vendor profiles.• Initiated lab testing for all product lines ahead of production, thereby reducing lab testing and development turn time by 4 weeks and reducing cost by 15%.• Traveled domestically and internationally to evaluate the viability of manufacturing opportunities, expand product knowledge and build strong vendor partnerships. Show less



WestPoint Stevens

• Textile Manufacturing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Associate Product Manager Sourcing

  • Sep 2002 - Jun 2005

  • Distribution of development packages to vendors, to generate costing and prototypes, as well as spec sheets for new items. • Daily communication with vendors for getting price quotes and tracking samples. • Maintained vendor tracking systems that monitor performance and create vendor scorecards; maintained databases of vendor status reports. • Maintain databases of vendor status reports. Maintain certification records of overseas vendors for quality assurance and testing and worked with factories to correct quality issues and ensure compliance • Manage private label requirements of various retailers for product quality and manufacturing facility compliance. • Initiated lab testing for all product lines and maintained test reports. Show less