Victoria Pierno Ruiz

Department Store , Specialty and Grocery Channels:

i.e. Dillard's, Belk, Military, The Fresh Market, Publix, HEB, Food Lion.

• Managed $5.7M annual revenue across varied accounts and channels of business.
• Focused on driving growth in revenue and net margin to achieve and exceed goals.
• Partnered with Broker and Distributor teams to strategically orchestrate our accounts' sales plans and promotional calendars. i.e. BBI,KeHe, Nassau, SuperValu, Vistar.
• Collaborated with Operations and Planning to analyze historical data, accounts' order cadence, and expected trends to accurately forecast, drive shipments and deliver AOP.
• Launched the Scharffen Berger Collection to the Harry and David customers, and orchestrated the onboarding and collection setup with assigned brokers and distributors.

Gift Packer Channel, Barnes& Noble, Total Wine and Hallmark.

• Accountable for driving $18.0M in annual revenue in the Specialty Wholesale Channel through strategic planning and optimizing the product portfolio, with a focus on both sell-in and sell-out performance.
• Collaborated with multiple cross-functional teams: Marketing, Product Development, Regulatory, QA, and Demand Planning to ensure brand consistency and exceeded the sales plan.
• Effectively curated a product portfolio that supported the accounts' needs and drove incremental profit across the business channel: Gross Margin increase: +15 pts.
• Responsible for adapting the existing planning process to streamline efficiencies and improve delivery cadence.

Gift Packer Channel, Belk Department Stores and Stein Mart,Inc.:

• Prospected new Gift Packer accounts - driving incremental $1.2M in top sales within initial year by executing strategic sales plans to expand customer base and extend marketplace reach.
• Led a 2014 initiative to gain initial market presence in key Club account for a new snacking category,- driving $640.0K of incremental shipments.
• Managed Godiva's $6.2M Southeast Territory. Recruited and coached a team of 14 field coordinators, focusing on brand equity execution and developing strong retail partnerships, which led to consistently delivering established initiatives and exceeding the sales plan.
• Maintained a consistent year-over-year increase across the Southeast region, achieving an overall '+23% increase in shipments during my full tenure.

• Compiled customer profiles detailing sales trend preferences to maintain a clientele base and generate continued growth -Maintaining customer retention at 25%.
• Analyzed buying trends at each store location to identify the appropriate mix of inventory items for top-tier sales.

• Conceptualized and launched a start-up business.
• Managed operations, budgeting, developed the catering channel, and grew a consistent customer base.
• Drove profitability by maintaining a 32% food cost, which is a prime level for the industry.
• Established favorable partnerships with vendors, building best-in-class product assortment to maximize brand identity, and generate optimal revenue.