Julie East

It is my mission and passion as a Buyer to find those unique products that our customers will love and can only find at our store! Collaborating daily with different teams to make sure that our products are shown in the best light - whether that be PR, Marketing, Creative, or Visual Sales, I am a team player who is known for getting the job done! During the time that I have been a Buyer, I have managed over 1200 SKU count for both the Office and Collections departments. Innovative in choosing trend driven Office products or making traditional Office products fashion driven and fun Three years ago, I moved to buy a larger volume department; Storage and most recently adding another department; Toy Storage to this role. I work with natural material and plastic suppliers from all over the world to bring home decor storage and organization to the assortment. I work with 14 different countries and numerous factories to direct source exclusive proprietary product to our stores.

I supported my buyers in day-to-day business as well as working to accomplish the overall strategy of the departments. I was also heavily involved in the selection process of products for all stores and online. I also worked closely with other departments in the company including: supply chain management, forecasting, creative, online/ecommerce, visual merchandising, and marketing. •Shared responsibility for a seasonal business and product development for seasonal SKUs for Travel Sale - and worked to turn inventory during that 7 week sale seasonal time frame. I also worked closely with our vendors to coordinate private label, exclusive products from sketch concepts to production. • Actively maintenance and managed all SKUs between Office and Collections departments and then later for the Travel and Bath departments •For Office - managed a multi million dollar campaign that was exclusive our department. Worked Vendors to negotiate sale pricing and coordinating product to be delivered on time and to get to stores in time for the 5 week sale.

Worked directly with the all buying teams to help facilitate new products to the stores. Visualized, planned, executed and wrote direction for all everyday visual resets in stores. Worked directly with all stores to keep Visual Merchandising company standards in place. Helped lead the Visual Merchandising efforts in several new stores and new campaigns for newly opened stores.

Direct account responsibility for accessory sales to one of the nations largest department store retailers (Kohl’s). Managed Relic and Columbia brand sales for both men's and women's watches. Monitor open-to-buy, inventory turn-over, margin, coop/cost control, product selection, advertising and store allocation for all doors. Managed and Coordinated Sales for Southwest Specialty Stores throughout TX, OK, AR, KS, NM, LA, MS, MO, and AL for Women’s Leathers (Handbags, Belts, Small Accessories).

Worked with a team to curate product for direct to consumer for catalog and online. Buying office handled $36M worth of annual revenue from the following range of product categories: Seasonal, Stationery, Pet, Collectibles and Antiques, and Desktop products. I managed inventory for multiple concurring catalogs to make sure that we were in stock positions coming in with the of the drop of a catalog and out at the end of circulation. I worked closely with my Buyer and Associate Buyer to develop private label and exclusive Seasonal products. This required constant communication with factories and agents to make sure that product came in correctly and how we envisioned it and on time for a catalog drop. Worked with my buyer to maintain GM for our department with markdowns and strategic retail pricing. Collaborating with Creative team for photoshoots coordinating product, approving photography, and copy.

Coordinated Visual Merchandising efforts for 6 large department stores in 4 Southern states focusing on the Women’s Leather and Footwear categories. Implemented training in stores on the brand and current assortment of styles and worked Back To School Events In stores to further brand awareness. Partnered with Buying teams in region to allocate inventory to correct locations based on sales. Drove Sales for Southern Region Specialty Stores throughout TX, OK, AR, NM, and LA for Women’s Leathers and Footwear. Worked and setup trade shows to secure new accounts and further brand awareness.