John DiBartolomeo
Westport,CT
Summary
Highly motivated professional with an outstanding track record of optimizing financial performance and expanding market share for leading brands Ralph Lauren, Aeropostale, Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch and J. Crew.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Principal/Owner
Robert Clayton Enterprises
Westport, CT
06.2018 - Current
- Retail/wholesale merchandising services & consultation for apparel & accessories product development and assortment planning
- Fabric & Textile Development for Apparel & Upholstery
- Real Estate Management & Development
GMM/Vice President Merchandising Men's & Women's
Aeropostale
New York, NY
06.2015 - 05.2018
- Lead merchandising cross functional teams through a disruptive bankruptcy, subsequent liquidation, re-organization, and successful reemergence to profitability.
DMM/Vice President of Merchandising Men's & Access
Aeropostale
New York, NY
08.2004 - 08.2015
- Grew Menswear revenue from $250M to $600M over 5 year period. Exceeded both Sales and Gross Margin $ plan & Y over Y. Increased market share & productivity per square foot.
- Collaborated with Design/Planning/Production to create focused, tasteful assortments, reducing CC's by 40%, selectively upgrading quality generating higher AUR, updated fits, developed high margin key item drivers with built in triggers to chase incremental business.
- Partnered with Key Suppliers to increase speed to market with fashion ideas, attain valuable trend information, & lock in key pricing.
- Collaborated with Marketing/Store Visual teams to create compelling, easy to shop, productive presentations that are visually exciting.
- Partnered with store-line & on-line merchants analyzing feedback and customer commentary in order to adjust future assortments & provide effective selling tools.
- Coached, Developed & Empowered merchants to work seamlessly with CFT's and assert leadership throughout the organization.
Vice President Global Merchandising
Ralph Lauren
New York, NY
08.1999 - 08.2004
- Collaborate closely with Concept & Product Design to ensure that each new collection stays pure to RL's original vision when executed at retail - for company owned stores, specialty retailers, department stores, outlet & International markets.
- Lead cross-functional wholesale & retail strategies including: line/range development and curation, pricing strategy, and presentation at retail. Providing in-depth market & sales data analysis.
- Responsible for all Seasonal Showroom Markets: samples, presentation & execution. Work in conjunction with Sales teams to present brand strategies to Senior Management of our retail partners. Maximize sell-in of the fully edited seasonal assortment at Market.
Education
Communications/Marketing
St. John's University
Jamaica, NY05-1986
Skills
- Skilled at conceptualizing and implementing merchandising strategies
- Excellent at analyzing data, market dynamics & competitors
- Excelled at attracting talent, evaluating, and coaching employees to peak performance levels and career progression
- Customer Focused - Adept at delivering tasteful and desirable product assortments from concept to launch by clearly understanding consumers
Timeline
Principal/Owner
Robert Clayton Enterprises
06.2018 - Current
GMM/Vice President Merchandising Men's & Women's
Aeropostale
06.2015 - 05.2018
DMM/Vice President of Merchandising Men's & Access
Aeropostale
08.2004 - 08.2015
Vice President Global Merchandising
Ralph Lauren
08.1999 - 08.2004
Communications/Marketing
St. John's University