Brian Richardson

Director of Merchandising (January 2012 – Present) • Responsible for management of five Merchandising associates including Inventory Analyst, Product Merchant, Merchandising Analyst, Graphic Designer & Web Channel Merchant • Established company’s gross profit rate of 23.5% and manage key business functions to exceed gross profit rate • Responsible for executing company’s brand strategy in core markets with private label product line exceeding 500 products and maintaining product quality with international suppliers • Develop and execute company’s print and e-marketing strategies with customer touches exceeding 200,000 within the calendar year • Manage product assortments across all channels including print media and e-commerce exceeding 65,000 products and 200 + vendors • Responsible for all aspects of company supply chain including inventory management of 2,000 sku’s across three distribution points and international shipping & logistics • Manage and negotiate all vendor rebate subsidy’s in excess of 1.5 million which directly correlate to company’s net operating income goals • Expanded company product offering to E-Commerce market places to achieve sales of 6.5 million in 2017 • Created accountability chart to help improve communication related to key company goals across all revenue generating departments

Merchandising Manager (January 2009-January 2012) • Managed three merchandising associates including Inventory Analyst, Product Merchant and Merchandising analyst • Established vendor performance program to create supplier accountability to help improve service level from 91% to 95% • Launched secondary private label brand to help create a stronger marketing strategy with the company’s core market with product assortment of 200+ items • Performed factory visits to suppliers’ facilities in order to foster partnerships and make certain that goals and standards are met • Implemented e-commerce pricing strategy to be competitive an increase company sales & gross profit in all web sales channels • Created and implemented print media marketing strategy for non-core markets with customer touches in excess of 50K • Expanded e-commerce product assortment from 20 to 50K products across 4 web sites

Buyer (June 2005 – January 2009) • Responsible for international product sourcing to establish private label product line to increase sales and product gross profit by 50% • Created and implemented criteria to manage private label product quality with international supplier’s and international quality control specialists • Established company inventory plan to minimize supplier direct shipments to core customers by expanding on site inventory levels by 500 sku’s during first two years of employment • Created price increase policy and plan to update pricing for up to 50 core vendors utilizing Microsoft Navision system • Implemented new product analysis process to determine new product additions to company catalog bi-annually • Implemented invoice discrepancy process with accounting to address product invoices with pricing discrepancies

Buyer (July 2002-November 2004) • Responsible for managing 7 product categories and planograms yielding annual revenues of $35 million in paint sundries category • Implemented line review on tape category worth $4 million in revenue and reduced cost by 17% • Established bargain of the month promotion in June 2003 with key vendor selling nearly 70% over promotional forecast and experiencing the most successful sales promotion of the year • Implemented private label program on abrasives category to improve paint sundries branding strategy which increased sales by 30% the first year of implementation Inventory Analyst (July 2000-July 2002) • Responsible for Housewares supplies and household goods totaling approximately 2500 sku’s and $65 million worth of revenue to the department • Reduced promotional overstock inventory by negotiating mark downs and buy backs with vendors annually • Managed vendor performance program in first year of implementation to assist in timely and complete deliveries from key vendors • Improved service level from 89% to 92% in first year of inventory management of Housewares department