RASHAWN NELSON
Summary
Accomplished Senior Regional Visual Manager with a proven track record of elevating sales performance and driving transformative initiatives to exceed targets. Adept at directing visual merchandising operations and aligning regional strategies with global brand vision. Recognized for orchestrating captivating brand experiences and optimizing space utilization. Seasoned Regional Visual Manager boasting broad experience in visual merchandising, store layout design, and team leadership. Highly skilled in creating compelling product displays that encourage customer engagement and increase sales. Demonstrated ability to train staff on visual standards and guidelines while effectively managing multiple store locations. Notable for improving brand consistency and enhancing customer shopping experiences across all assigned stores.
Overview
2025
2025
years of professional experience
Work History
Regional Visual Manager
Giorgio Armani Northeast
New York City & Canada
01.2018 - Current
- Orchestrating the visual identity and brand consistency across 13 Giorgio Armani stores in North America, with direct oversight of 2 global flagship stores and 5 of the company's top 10 performing stores
- Spearheading in-store creative display/merchandising initiatives, meticulously planning, and communicating visual directives, and reinforcing brand standards to ensure an elevated customer experience
- Cultivating and deepening strategic collaborations with Milan HQ to align regional strategies with global brand vision
- Driving comprehensive visual merchandising and operational excellence across the highest volume region in North America for Giorgio Armani
- Led end-to-end retail visual operations encompassing P&L management, merchandising strategies, sales optimization, floor set planning, fixture alignment, window displays, product assortment curation, client relationship management, and inventory planning
- Garnering proficiency in fashion styling and merchandising, enhancing the visual appeal of products and spaces
- Achieved remarkable success, propelling the Northeast region to the #1 position for three consecutive years, surpassing sales targets by an average of 15% YTD, and elevating all performance metrics, staff engagement, and client satisfaction through innovative visual merchandising
- Collaborating closely with buyers and planners to provide strategic input for seasonal assortment updates, optimize purchase quantities, and identify new business development prospects, resulting in exceptional inventory sell-through rates
- Acknowledged for cultivating, motivating, and developing the Northeast store visual managers' team, being chosen as a primary trainer for the Northeast and Canada regions
- Nurturing the growth of new store teams and operations managers, providing coaching, and fostering accountability for performance outcomes
- Planning and Zoning for seasonal floor sets and New Store Opening
Visual Merchandising Coordinator
Guess? Inc.
01.2008 - 01.2018
- Company Overview: (Macys HSQ, Bloomingdales 59th, Lord & Taylor 5th Ave)
- Orchestrated a remarkable transformation of underperforming stores, swiftly reversing a sales deficit of -$76K to a positive $3.5K within three months
- Led training initiatives, enhanced product knowledge, recruited new leadership talent, and expanded product assortment to drive exceptional sales growth in key categories
- Forged enduring relationships with vital stakeholders, vendors, and commercial partners to optimize operations efficiency and cost-effectiveness
- Expertly assessed stock capacity, determining optimal fixture requirements to maximize the selling floor space and overall layout
- Collaborated closely with account executives and department store buyers, leveraging sales data analysis, competitive research, and fashion trends insights to inform seasonal buying decisions
- Surpassed sales budgets across all channels within the assigned area, mastering product flow and allocation strategies while enhancing key performance indicators
- Pioneered loss prevention measures, implementing systems and procedures that significantly reduced inventory discrepancies and achieved a .78% year-end shrink rate, outperforming the 1.0% goal
Shop Manager
Bloomingdales 59th Street
12.2009 - 12.2010
- Company Overview: (Ralph Lauren/Guess
- Inc)
- Achieved an outstanding +12% year-over-year sales increase for both Guess
- Inc
- And Ralph Lauren, positioning them as the leading full-price brands within Bloomingdale's 59th Street, significantly surpassing the company's average performance
- Conceptualized and implemented dynamic customer service programs, elevating customer satisfaction and loyalty through comprehensive training initiatives for shop associates
- Spearheaded the creation and execution of strategic sales training and development programs, resulting in enhanced sales skills and customer interaction techniques among the shop team
Visual Coordinator Assistant
Nautica
01.2007 - 01.2008
- Gained exclusive selection for Nautica's intensive visual operations program, earmarking potential as a future visual operations manager
- Immersed in rigorous training encompassing critical aspects of visual merchandising, including fixture and graphic strategy, POP development, and product knowledge rollout
- Played a pivotal role in redefining Nautica's visual identity by actively participating in the creation and implementation of innovative men's shop concepts, resulting in a fresh and appealing in-store experience
- Contributed significantly to the successful rollout of new fixtures, optimizing the overall store layout and enhancing visual coherence
- Played a pivotal role in developing seasonal brand guides as a response to the newly appointed Brand Ambassador's vision, providing North American and Mexican sales staff with product knowledge, selling tactics, and styling guidance.
Education
BSc - Business Administration
City College of New York
New York, NY01.2007
Skills
- Client Relationship Management
- Brand Identity Development
- Operations Management
- Visual Merchandising Strategy
- Strategic Partnerships
- Product Presentation
- Process Implementation
- Product Conceptualization
- Product Lifecycle Management
- Customer experience enhancement
- Merchandise flow
- Store layout design
- Product presentation
- Strong leadership
- Space Planning
- Staff Training and Development
- Creative Direction
- Competitor Analysis
- Product distribution oversight
Timeline
Regional Visual Manager
Giorgio Armani Northeast
01.2018 - Current
Shop Manager
Bloomingdales 59th Street
12.2009 - 12.2010
Visual Merchandising Coordinator
Guess? Inc.
01.2008 - 01.2018
Visual Coordinator Assistant
Nautica
01.2007 - 01.2008
BSc - Business Administration
City College of New York
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