German Polanco

Lead buying team and guide in building product lines that align with customer needs and demands.

• Oversee buyers and vendors to ensure that best prices are being negotiated for products.
• Generate a buy plan, with detailed budgets and obsolescence levels to optimize inventory turns.
• Compare market trends to ensure that there are no gaps in product assortments.
• Plan product inventory by assessing regional needs to maximize product turnover.
• Maintain a price strategy that aligns with the company’s financial needs and competitive with market demands.
• Identify end of life products and create exit strategies to ensure seamless transitions.
• Partner with vendors on opportunity buys that create opportunities for higher turnover and profit.
• Ensure that quality control team is processing all items for distribution.
• Collaborate with quality control team to create product standards that align with the company’s quality.
• Train quality control team on product specs and how to test items to for gold content and diamond quality.
• Work with merchandise team to service all 104 retail locations. From customer special orders to specific store needs.
• Assist management team on new locations to ensure store layouts and displays are optimal for product assortment.
• Lead shipping department to ensure efficient outflow of goods to retail locations and vendors.
• Collaborate with IT to maintain and establish necessary POS enhancements to adapt to changes in retail needs.
• Train new retail management staff on inventory strategy to maximize inventory turns while maintaining profitability levels.
• Work with retail staff to learn about regional market trends and explore areas of growth within assortments.
• Work with our repair department to understand quality issues and merchandise patterns to address issues with vendors.

Establish, maintain, and assess inventory turns for every category using sales history, sales plans, vendor criteria, and market trends.

• Forecasting purchases and working with management to develop company open to buy plans for every category.
• Manage obsolete inventory and make recommendations for vendor returns or stock balancing opportunities to the amount of obsolete inventory.
• Planogram product assortment at retail stores to maximize sales.
• Reduced obsolete inventory by 20% by constructing a product line for every department and ensuring proper replenishment and procurement of inventory.
• Established a replenishment program in the company that measures item sell through and ensures replenishment of core items based on store sales volume.
• Train store managers to analyze stores inventory and sales data to maximize their individuals stores strengths and work on areas of improvement.
• Oversee the opening of new locations by creating inventory plans.

Built product strategies and merchandising plans for Curacao’s Home Electronics Department, which accounted for a 24% share of the company’s revenue with a total of $64 million for 2012 fiscal year.

• Planned product lines based on sales history market trends with brands such as LG, Samsung and Sony to target specific demographics within Curacao’s customers.
• Established strategic direction based on customer needs and business goals in order to achieve profitable standards while remaining competitively priced in accordance to MAP and UPP pricing.
• Developed and implemented administrative and operational procedures to ensure achievement of objectives at retail levels.
• Strategically created and managed promotional strategies to increase sales and store traffic utilizing company marketing vehicles such as TV commercials, branding events, and promotional catalogs.
• Planogram product assortment at retail stores to maximize sales.
• Controlled the order and re-order process to provide a successful inventory flow for the company while developing an adequate strategy of merchandise distribution for the retail stores of Curacao.
• Organized trainings between vendors and the retail team of the company.
• Managed monthly projections for entire purchasing department to ensure that forecasts follow market trends and are in line with company goals.
• Implemented a forecasting cycle for the Home Electronics department to better allocate merchandise for the company and maintain proper inventory levels increasing inventory turns.
• Improved Curacao’s Audio and Musical instruments departments by introducing new brands such as Bose and JBL and merchandising fixtures that resulted in an increase in sales of over 41%.
• Maximized Instant rebate claiming process to align with marketing vehicles.
• Coordinated logistics operations to optimize supply chain efficiency and reduce delays.
• Managed inventory levels through effective forecasting and demand planning strategies.
• Implemented process improvements that enhanced overall operational workflows and reduced costs.

Implemented product assortment for Curacao’s appliance department while managing buying responsibilities for music, books and general merchandise departments within the company.

• Coordinated the introduction of LG appliances to Curacao.
• Merchandised product assortments for Book, Music, General Merchandise, and Appliance department.
• Managed inventory plans for books, music, general merchandise and appliance department to ensure proper flow of inventory and smooth transitions of obsolete merchandise.
• Restructured home movies and music departments by reducing over a million dollars in obsolete inventory and implementing a 90-day inventory limit for slow moving merchandise to ensure proper flow of goods.
• Introduced new selections of workout equipment into General Merchandise department leading to average a 35% increase in sales.
• Organized cross merchandise promotions between General merchandise and music to increase the average ticket of sales.
• Coordinated events with music labels to promote store traffic using radio remotes and other vehicles of advertisement.
• Employed a monthly transfer procedure from store to store to reduce obsolescence in low traffic locations.