Lincoln Park, Michigan, United States
Managed all business facets of retail bedding-mattress sales in Michigan territory for Spring Air Mattress Co based in Tampa, FL. Responsible for two major retail chain accounts: Mattress World (22 stores) and JC Penney (8 stores) accounting for about $5 million in Spring Air mattress sales. Conducted sales presentations and training meetings. Planned and developed retail sales programs, designed summary reports, reviewed trends and data to improve sales performance, and directed incentive events. Spring Air References: Chad Megard (VP Sales) and Bill Evashevski (VP Sales Development)
Responsible for retail bedding-mattress sales in Ohio and Indiana territory. Established new sales programs, advertising campaigns, incentive promotions, and prospected for new accounts. Conducted sales meetings and retail sales training. Experienced working with owners, buyers, store managers, and sales consultants at retail store operations in the furniture and bedding industries. Managed business and sales with several well known furniture retailers: Kittles Furniture in Indianpolis, Levin Furniture in Pittsburgh-Cleveland, and HOM Furniture in Minneapolis-St Paul. Kingsdown references: Eric Hinshaw (CEO) Patrick Flippin (President), Tom McLean (Senior Vice President). • Achieved consistent success training retail sales consultants to increase Average Unit Sale Price (AUSP) resulting in higher commissions and greater store profits.
Directed all facets of sales and administration for major accounts representing more than $300 million in retail La-Z-Boy furniture business (Montgomery Ward, Sears HomeLife, Art Van, US Military, etc). Resolved policies and issues related to sales, service, merchandising, advertising, credit, logistics, information technology, production planning, etc. Composed regular sales bulletins, program updates, and policy statements to sales force, manufacturing plants, and other corporate departments. La-Z-Boy references: Kurt Darrow (CEO), Steve Matlock (National Sales V.P.) • Managed sales support team and supervised departmental administration. • Developed forecasting and inventory control reports to improve efficiency and expedite lead times. Designed catalogs and product information materials. • Organized and supervised overall project to launch Sears HomeLife account in 1997 that soon attained annual retail sales volume of $70 million at La-Z-Boy.
Managed the Montgomery Ward business, the single largest account with La-Z-Boy at that time. Started when Wards was about 7% of all La-Z-Boy sales; eventually, business nearly doubled to 12% of corporate sales in 1991 (over $100 million retail). • Established standard policies and procedures to streamline operations and administration. Many original guidelines continue to be used at La-Z-Boy. • Expanded custom order upholstery program to offer wider selection to consumers; special order business tripled within two years. • Led the first joint task group between La-Z-Boy and Montgomery Ward to create electronic business transactions (EDI) to increase efficiency and reduce staffing requirements.