A. GAINZA

416-***-**** adnghv@r.postjobfree.com

CAREER PROFILE

Progressive experience as a Buyer with 9 years of retail/wholesale purchasing, vendor selection, contract negotiation and product development. Bilingual professional (English/Spanish) with national and international buying experience. A resourceful negotiator with a transferable skillset and sound understanding of foreign trade and logistics. Respected for the ability to source right-fit vendors globally and close lucrative partnership agreements.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Procurement

Sourcing

Inventory management

Wholesale/Retail mathematics

Contract negotiation

Pricing

Vendor management

Category management

Brand development

Market analysis

Merchandise display

KEY ACHIVEMENTS

Direct procurement – Re-negotiated existing agreements and sourced new vendors resulting in an 8% increase of average warehouse margin at a $35 million warehouse operation.

Indirect procurement - Decreased by over 15% office operation expenses by sourcing, selecting, re-negotiating and consolidating a strategic pool of vendors to increase purchasing power and reduce cost.

Profit margin impact – Re-designed annual purchasing plan by Increasing annual promotional purchases versus regular priced purchases yielding $1.5 million in annual savings.

EMPLOYMENT

Purchaser - The Walkin Tub Company 2013 - to date

The Walkin Tub Company - Dealer of walk in tubs in partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart and American Standard.

Responsible for all direct purchasing, online product selection and sourcing, negotiating with new vendors, attending trade shows/industry events, and conducting competitor analysis. Closed agreements with highly favorable terms yielding a 12% margin increase and a more competitive wholesale cost and suggested retail price.

Negotiated supplier agreements and managed vendor relations. Working closely with the CEO, secured exclusivity dealer agreements for walk in tub distribution and installation with American Standard and Shoppers Drug Mart. Resulting in new distribution network with over 800 specialized sales establishments and sales growth of 200% in 2 year-period.

Consolidated International supplier shipments of walk in tubs and parts for new distribution network which reduced transportation costs by 20% per shipment.

Developed clearance strategy for company overstock based on aggressive seasonal sales promotions when compared to competition reports. Days inventory were reduced from 74 to 50.

Sourcing of equipment and vendor management including managing repair and warranty vendors. Consolidated all parts and warranty recalls on 2 suppliers, reducing cost and delivery time.

Buyer - Highfield Holdings Inc. 2007 - 2013

Trade Secrets Beauty Shops, Head Office - Multi-million retailer operating over 100 stores across Canada and US.

Responsible for all direct and indirect purchasing chain wide. Developed a keen eye to identify new trends and products with guaranteed market performance and high margins. In collaboration with the Marketing and Distribution departments, oversaw the successful launch of over 25 new product lines in multiple categories, i.e. styling appliances, hair, nail care, cosmetics, skin and fashion accessories.

Identified opportunities for new product lines and collaborated directly with manufacturers to develop and launch exclusive private label product lines. Oversaw, launch and promotion of new line as well as the adjustment and liquidation of under performers, Increasing inventory turnover and Gross margins.

Supervised the distribution department for PO creation, accuracy and placement. Managed inventory levels. Increased margin revenues between 3 – 5 % annually for a $35-million-dollar inventory warehouse (over 6000 skus).

Authored promotional set up book by negotiating with vendors, the products and price points to be featured while collaborating with the marketing department to create merchandising layout and POS for the monthly promotional campaigns. Promotional sales grew to become top-grossing category companywide. Renegotiated vendor agreements with vendors like L’Oreal, P&G, Conair and OPI.

Coordinated cross-functionally seminars focused on sales training, product knowledge and implementation of merchandising guidelines.

EDUCATION

Post-graduate Diploma in International Trade and Business Administration - International School of Business Administration – ESEM, Spain

B.A., English Language and Literature - University of Havana, Cuba

LANGUAGES

Bilingual: English and Spanish - fully proficient

COMPUTER COMPETENCIES

Milano POS, ACCPAC accounting software, Zen Cart e-commerce software, Constant Contact email software, MS Office suite

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