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Visual Merchandising/Retail Sales and Operations

Location:
New York City, NY
Posted:
October 22, 2020

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CHRIS OBCENA

New York, NY adg74y@r.postjobfree.com 917-***-**** linkedin.com/in/chrisobcena

VISUAL MERCHANDISING LEADER

Visual Merchandising professional with over 15 years of hands-on experience in managing and leading overall visual merchandising strategies within global and diverse luxury retail environments. Expertise in creative visual displays and in-store merchandising, from planning to execution, with a proven track record for meeting company target sales goals. Well-versed with store openings and renovations, from visual design to fixture production. Known for strong organizational and leadership skills in order to achieve projects on schedule and within budget. Collaborative with all Corporate and Store partners, thus ensuring all business initiatives have a strong visual support. Promotes a clear visual brand identity while elevating brand through innovative luxury retail concept and store experience.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Luxury Client Experience Visual Merchandising Retail Business Operations Watch+ Jewelry+ Leather, Apparel, Beauty+ Home Fashion Trend+ Market Analysis Store Openings+ Renovations

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

L BRANDS- HENRI BENDEL, New York, NY October 2008 – June 2019 Director, Visual Merchandising, December 2013 – June 2019 Conceptualized all visual merchandising strategies for seasonal brand storytelling to help build brand profile and business equity. Created department budget and managed visual production for all seasonal creative campaigns. Led, managed and developed 6 direct reports and supported 30 retail stores.

• Provided leadership, innovation and creative merchandising expertise to EVP-Chief Creative Officer to help drive traffic and increase retail store sales up to $200 million.

• Developed and managed the visual floor set and directive process to align all cross functional departments and implement all business initiatives.

• Responsible for developing and managing all fixture, signage and décor programs to support all product launches and special projects.

• Managed training Sales and Store leadership team on product knowledge, product focus and visual guidelines in a highly curated visual and sales environment.

• Partnered with Executive and Store leadership to determine opportunities within each market region to maximize all sales activities and enhance client store experience. Visual Manager, Fifth Avenue Flagship, October 2008 – November 2013 Collaborated on all creative concepts and managed all visual production and installations. Acted as direct liaison between Corporate and Flagship store for all visual projects. Managed and developed 2 direct reports and freelance staff. Maintained Flagship seasonal visual budget. Developed strong partnerships with store leadership and vendors – Beauty+ Home, Accessories and Contemporary+ Designer Ready-to-Wear categories.

• Developed a network of local vendors and resources for all creative projects.

• Partnered with Sales and Operations Teams to increase store revenue in order to achieve sales goals on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis.

• Created visual selling strategies around target products to increase sell-throughs and productivity of Sales Team.

• Provided visual support to Marketing+ PR and Merchandising Teams during all store events, including pop-up shops and trunk shows to ensure brand process efficiency. CHRIS OBCENA

New York, NY adg74y@r.postjobfree.com 917-***-**** Page 2 FRETTE, New York, NY July 2006 – October 2008

Senior Visual Manager, US Retail and Wholesale

Developed all visual merchandising guidelines for 10 retail stores. Led and managed 4 direct reports and maintained seasonal department budget. Acted as direct visual liaison between Frette U.S.A. and Frette Italy for global brand consistency.

• Organized and managed all seasonal NY Showroom installations and assisted with Milan Showroom.

• Collaborated with PR+Marketing, E-Commerce and Hospitality for all domestic and international special events, photo shoots and trade shows.

• Led all domestic expansions and store openings (Palo Alto, Manhasset, ABC Carpet & Home and Boston).

BURBERRY LIMITED, New York, NY May 2003 – July 2006 Northeast Visual Merchandise Coordinator, US Wholesale, September 2005 – July 2006 Managed and implemented all visual merchandising guidelines for over 50 US Northeast and Eastern Canada wholesale accounts – Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Barneys NY, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Ogilvy and Holt Renfrew. Acted as direct ambassador between brand and wholesale accounts.

• Conducted training and product knowledge seminars to Field Sales Team on all company visual standards and seasonal strategies. Categories included Accessories, Men’s and Women’s London and Prorsum Runway Collections and Kids.

• Provided regular selling reports with accompanying photos to all Account Executives and Wholesale leadership team.

Global Visual Manager, US Retail, May 2003 – May 2005 Organized and implemented visual packages for all global expansion of retail stores. Partnered with Store Planning and Design on all fixture and visual layouts. Managed budget of $3.3 million and supported 16 field Visual Managers and 30 retail stores. Collaborated with global Creative Team in developing and executing global rollouts of window designs and visual merchandising guidelines. ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

A/X ARMANI EXCHANGE, New York, NY

Flagship Display Manager

FRENCH CONNECTION, New York, NY

Regional Visual Coordinator

GAP INC- BANANA REPUBLIC, New York, NY

Visual Coordinator

EDUCATION

CUNY-CITY COLLEGE, New York, NY

Liberal Arts (two semesters)

PUBLICATIONS

VMSD 2016 Designer Dozen

WindowsWear 2016-2019



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