As a successful specialty apparel retailer, at dressbarn we know talented people are our greatest asset.  We are currently seeking an experienced Location Planner to become part of our expanding team!  This is not your typical location planning role, but is a unique opportunity to innovate, build, and drive the evolution of our new planning department. This position will report directly to the Assistant Vice President, Location Planning and will be responsible for senior-level decision-making. In addition, the Location Planner will partner with Planning, Buying, and Allocation to develop, implement, and manage the location plans that will maximize sales and inventory turns of a designated area.

Departmental Responsibilities:   

·         Develop and maintain location plans down to the department/class/subclass level that tie to the Merchandise Financial Plans.

·         Build the proper unit plans by department/class/subclass for regular, clearance and total sales in order to drive appropriate turn targets.

·         Focus on developing regular price unit plans which will drive and support buying strategies and enhance future product mix offerings.

·         Drill down to subclass and assess profitability by store using regular and clearance sales penetrations and make appropriate recommendations where warranted.

·         Partner with Merchandise Planning in order to drive preseason and in season location plans that are aligned with planning strategies.

·         Collect and analyze store sales trends to determine a better flow of product to the stores.

·         Develop location projections in season by department/class/subclass to drive allocation strategies; projections will be input into the JDA Allocation system.

·         Monitor weekly open to ship by assessing store sales by department/class/subclass, inventory and forward weeks of cover. Provide information to accurately replenish stores based on the data gathered, as well as, adhering to the plan.

·         Arrange weekly touch base meetings with corresponding Distributors in order to pinpoint and target exception stores that are over achieving or under achieving current store sales and inventory targets.

·         Participate in meetings by sharing current trend by store groupings and vocalize any future updates/opportunities for location projections.

·         Take part in hind sighting months and quarters as they actualize and determine which store groups either drove or missed the business during this time period; strategize go forward opportunities.

·         Partner with cross functional team members in Planning, Allocation and Buying, and share hindsight information accordingly.

·         Visit local stores in close proximity, in order to maintain a continuous understanding of the in store environment and how their areas of responsibility correlate to the overall store.

·         Regional travel is required as opportunities arise which will help foster field partnership with RSM’s and DSM’s.

The ideal candidate will have a thorough understanding of Retail math and possess exceptional communication skills, both oral and written. Excellent collaborative, organizational, prioritization and time management skills are essential, as well.  

A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent is preferred with 2-5 years of experience in Store Planning/Location Planning.  The right candidate will have proficient computer skills with knowledge of Micro Strategy and Oracle Retek a plus.

This list of position responsibilities herein is not intended to be all-inclusive and may include additional responsibilities as required and assigned.  It may become necessary to modify/change these position responsibilities from time to time.