Cara Lake

Create seasonal and monthly financial plans for wholesale clients by category and collection, while collaborating with Sales and Finance to develop yearly strategies to enhance partnerships and encourage business growth on $113.5M business. Achieved +1% growth YoY with -21% points of sale. Develop strategic adhoc reporting to provide quantitative business analysis to influence future purchases and strategies. Maintain replenishment matrix, sales, inventory, and purchase forecast by sku for wholesale replenishment and drop ship programs.

Acted as Subject Matter Expert (SME) with internal teams and cross-functional business partners to build Assortment Plans, from creation to finalization, with targeted product information and attributes, approved cluster strategy and product performance information. Performed analysis on product performance across all networks to develop go forward strategies, maximize opportunities, and create life cycle profiles; and used this information to propose action plans to capitalize on opportunity and mitigate risk. Developed sku/store level assortment plans that optimize our financial objectives and deliver against primary category strategic objectives.

Focused on Nordstrom full-price and off-price channels, annual revenue of $145M, increasing business +15% YoY. Partnered with Finance on development of budget targets for key accounts across financial quarters and seasonal segments. Worked with Demand Planning and Customer Service to ensure product forecasts align with buy plans and merchandise flow. Led monthly purchase order and markdown meetings for total company to ensure alignment on product assortment and pricing strategies. Presented investment strategies to executive team for approval.

Responsible for Planning across Wholesale, Merchandising, and Inventory teams oversaw annual revenue of $2.3M. Executed weekly/seasonal topline reporting and performance analysis by delivery and classification for total company, presented findings to Board of Directors on quarterly basis. Created and managed OTB to hit global multi-channel sales and inventory targets.

Senior Manager of Planning and Merchandising for International markets, driving $54M business, +43% increase YoY. Developed seasonal buys, plans, category assortment targets, international pricing strategies, markdown cadences. Acted as liaison between third party partners overseeing three international e-commerce websites to curate buys, merchandise sites, create landing page, and optimize seamless customer experience to achieve financial targets.

Merchandise Planner across all categories focusing on Merchandise and Inventory Planning. Aided in the development of in-house reporting and Business Intelligence initiatives. Worked with Merchandising, Product Development, and Buying teams to oversee SKU creation analysis, line assortment, and the overall buy process. Negotiated with factories on production minimums and lead time, as well as warehousing facilities on pricing per unit.

Omni Channel Associate Merchandise Planner, RTW Collections - managing $50M in annual revenue, across 500 stores.

Buyer for all non-branded merchandise across all categories, growing division +48% YoY to $4M, increasing GM by 200 basis points.

Assistant Planner, Full-line Channel; Saks Fifth Avenues Executive Training Program Graduate; Merchandise Assistant, Saks Direct.