Associate Buyer, Retail Stores

Schedule: Monday – Friday, Weekends as needed, 40-50 hours per week

Employer-Paid Life Insurance

Flex Time Off

Disability Insurance

Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

The Associate Buyer is responsible for curating and managing the optimum assortment for our customers with responsibility for specific department(s) within a larger buying complex. The Associate Buyer will work to create the appropriate merchandise mix based on emerging market trends, along with working with the supplier base and supervisory Buyer to develop category and supplier strategies. They are responsible to achieve the sales, margin, and turnover targets for his/her respective buying areas and they will provide assistant support to the Buyer for other department needs.

Develop and execute merchandise assortment strategies to meet or exceed the financial goals

Product development as needed in accordance with the respective property brands, departments, and concepts.

Initiate purchase orders and manage store assortments.

Create and maintain open lines of communication & partnership with Buyer, Planner, Store Managers, Regional Managers and other co-workers.

Analyze business at division, department, class, subclass, attribute, and store level.

Prepare for and participate in regular Merchandising meetings such as Weekly Performance Meetings, Month End Review / OTB meetings, Collaboration meetings, New Store Review meetings, etc.

Visit our stores to evaluate assortments, presentations, stock levels, marketing, customers, and obtain feedback from store personnel. 2+ years of retail buying experience.

Solid understanding of assortment planning and commercial analysis

Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite & Excel

Limited travel or overnight

Occasional travel or overnight

Frequent travel or overnight; including international

Can distinguish varying or specific colors, patterns, or materials

Fluency in English is required for training, customer interactions, and ensuring compliance with company policies and procedures

WHSmith is a leading global travel retailer with over 1,700 stores across 30 countries worldwide. WHSmith North America, incorporating Marshall Retail Group (MRG) and InMotion, represents over half of the Company’s international store estate, with a collection of attractive, successful specialty retail stores located in airports and resorts across North America.

WH Smith prides itself on creating unique experiences for customers by developing distinctive retail store concepts that feature and highlight the local culture, community, and lifestyle of the cities in which they are located.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin/ancestry, age, gender identity, gender expression, military/veteran status, marital status, disability status or any other basis prohibited by law. Advanced computer skills, including Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and experience with a merchandising software platform.

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