Lara Beggin

Category Strategy and Team Leadership

• Develop and lead strategic initiatives for managing over 5,000 SKUs across multiple non-consumable product categories, including Home & Kitchen, Personal and Home Care, Bookstore, Merchandising, and Collateral Disposable and Branded Packaging.
• Implement product assortment strategies aimed at driving revenue growth and achieving sales and margin objectives. Lead and inspire both corporate and local team members, focusing on talent development and maximizing performance.

Buying Team Coordination

• Work closely with the buying and finance team to guarantee that every new item sourced and purchased aligns with the overall design aesthetic and stays within budgetary constraints. Approve the procurement of new products to ensure they meet established requirements

Brand Partnerships

• Plan, develop, negotiate, and implement innovative and effective brand partnerships to elevate brand positioning and drive increased sales.

Merchandising and Special Collaborations

• Develop a long-term omni-channel merchandising vision and roadmap for all non-consumable product categories. Drive the sourcing and supplier selection process, negotiate contracts and pricing, and manage projects from concept through product launch, including phase-in and phase-out strategies and visual merchandising alignment. Conduct additional research as needed for initiatives such as the North America employees’ uniform program.

Marketing Cross-Departmental Collaboration

• Partner with marketing and ecommerce teams to ensure that the client shopping experience—both in stores and online—remains consistent with the brand vision. Ensure the comprehensive and cohesive delivery of all content and product-related elements across channels.
• Facilitate effective communication with the sales team to promote seamless coordination throughout the product lifecycle. Redirect and oversee the execution of floor sets and visual displays, regularly evaluating merchandise performance and making necessary adjustments to merchandise presentation to achieve set goals.

Vendor Relationship Management

• Oversee all aspects of vendor relationships, including communications and assortment management. Responsibilities include managing emails, scheduling and conducting meetings, nurturing relationship growth, and handling negotiations to ensure effective communication with vendors.

Sales and Data Analysis

• Perform comprehensive sales analysis and implement necessary changes to assortments, case packs, and pricelists. This includes regularly updating and adjusting product offerings and pricing based on the latest data and sales trends.

Forecasting and Stock Management

• Provide forecasts by collection, brand, and SKU as requested, on a monthly or quarterly basis. Oversee production forecasts and manage stock levels to ensure products are available and inventory is optimized.

Product Promotions and Launches

• Develop and execute promotional plans for all North America locations, covering a total of 11 stores. Responsibilities include forecasting demand, placing orders, and monitoring stock to support successful product launches and promotions.

In-Store Coordination

• Coordinate communication of in-store graphics to ensure promotional materials and signage are accurately and effectively displayed across all locations.

Performance Analysis and Team Collaboration

• Lead updates on non-consumable products during weekly team calls. Analyze total category performance by reviewing sales, units sold, initial markup percentage (IMU%), sell-through percentage (ST%), year-over-year (YoY) performance, and comparable sales. Use these insights to make informed decisions for category management and ongoing business improvement.

• Met with suppliers and negotiated contract terms and costs.
• Ensured timely and efficient product flow, set up items in the database, and managed stock levels and inventory.
• Attended trade shows, created seasonal merchandise assortments, and negotiated with vendors regarding quantity, costs, delivery terms, and dates.
• Developed vendor financial plans and presented data in a compelling manner to support business decisions.
• Analyzed merchandise performance to monitor statistical objectives, adapted inventory as needed, and increased sales volume

Coordination with Headquarters

• Liaised directly with the headquarters in Paris to manage all editorial requests and oversee special projects. This included handling key media materials to ensure alignment with organizational objectives and maintaining high standards of communication and content delivery.

Status Reporting and Performance Tracking

• Compiled comprehensive monthly status reports detailing the progress of various brands. These reports included comparative analyses of each month’s performance, providing valuable insights into trends and areas for improvement.