Cynthia Cooper

• During this period, I was the caretaker for both of my parents in their home. Unfortunately, they had health issues and needed support during that time.

• Achieved 40%+ YOY Retail Sales in 2020 and 2019 as a group
• Owned all aspects of company planning
• Created and managed company/department level OTB; then provided direction to buying team for budgeting, inventory management, and distribution of buys across departments
• Encouraged strategies to improve profitability and inventory turn
• Presented business analysis and updates at weekly business review meetings
• Created company standardized reports and multiple company SOPs
• Participated in weekly leadership calls and meetings where I provided input and direction as needed
• Special Project: Beauty and Gift Buyer for holiday time-frame
• Developed strategy, managed merchandising on site, vendor communication, costing, packaging, and terms for Gift/Beauty collection

• Direct to Consumer Products/Vases and Candle Accessories
• Provided input and testing during the implementation of a new software system
• Analyzed business and developed strategies for upcoming seasons, provided direction to Buyers and management
• Developed seasonal financial plans and daily sales plans
• Forecasted sales and anticipated OTB issues, then worked with Buyers to manage OTB
• Forecasted and planned unit/$ buys, and their flow
• Assisted in right-sizing assortment by suggested drops of low-rank SKUs, and duplicative SKUs
• Created and implemented markdown and promotional strategies
• Managed distribution to stores.

• Floral, Seasonal Décor, and Home Fragrance
• Sourced and developed assortment each season, used my ideas, inspirations, and product development skills
• Created multiple company key items
• Traveled to both domestic and foreign locations attended trade shows, met with vendors, and developed products
• Identified new sources and developed relationships to grow the business
• Communicated and negotiated on costing, developments, timelines, shipping, payments, and more
• Drove inclusion in catalog marketing
• Shopped competition to be aware of their direction
• Developed seasonal business plans
• Managed OTB updates and strategized to optimize business
• Determined and executed optimal receipt flow
• Hired, developed, and promoted Assistant Buyers
• Developed training manual for our Allocation and Planning systems and trained fellow employees.

• Home Textiles, Tabletop, Mirrors, Lighting, Floral, Candles, and more categories
• Joined Z Gallerie as their first Planner
• Developed and maintained company seasonal plans at the department and class level in Excel via data analysis
• Analyzed trends, assisted in inventory control, anticipated OTB issues through accurate forecasting
• Partnered with Buyers to achieve sales plans, gross margin and turn goals, recommended strategies to maximize business
• Created company and department daily sales plan reports
• Worked with Buyers to ensure basic items were consistently in stock, and fashion unit buys were appropriate and flowed well
• Developed and initiated a markdown process for the company
• Distributed products to stores as needed
• Refined and tested a new software program saving the company $150K on the program
• Communicated to developers on system requirements for a new seasonal planning tool.

While at Macy's-West I held several progressive positions with growing responsibilities.