Carsten Lehnen

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Carsten Lehnen

Dipl. Betriebswirt

Expansion Manager Europe

(The company name is only visible to registered members)

  • 83071 Stephanskirchen
  • Germany

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Personal information

  • Wants
    Priorität 1: neue Einzelhandelsstandorte in den Niederlanden, Belgien, Nordfrankreich, Polen
  • Groups

Professional experience (14 years, 8 months)

  • Employment status
    Employee

Educational background

  • Oct 1994 - Sep 1998
    Berufsakademie Karlsruhe

    Handel, Dipl. Betriebswirt (BA)

  • Languages
    German (First language), English (Fluent), French (Basic knowledge)

About me


Profile

I am an energetic, positive thinking fashion retail manager with international experience (Germany, Israel, Switzerland, UK, USA, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium), who has a proven track record of hands-on starting and developing fashion retail concepts in new markets, with entrepreneurial spirit and the strong ability to communicate and establish trustful relationships with stakeholders from various countries.
Based on a solid foundation of strategic retail business development and marketing/sales experiences, I am able to plan and execute retail strategies successfully with involving all required team members such as POS staff, Merchandising, VM and Marketing, Controlling and Sales Support teams.

Core Competences

• Leading and continuously optimizing retail store sales and profit performance
• Developing, monitoring and adjusting 3-Year-Planning, P&L statements, Annual Operating
Plans and forecasts
• Developing and executing the right local merchandise strategies
• Merchandise order incl. budget planning, mix&weights, price/size splits and style selection
• Marketing campaign planning and execution to support brand building and sales
• Recruiting, training and leading a strong retail team in stores and headquarters
• Building and maintaining excellent relationships with international shareholders and partners

Experience

since March 2011 Expansion Manager Europe
Marc O'Polo Einzelhandels GmbH, www.marc-o-polo.de


2004 - 2010 Managing Director Germany / Brand Manager Switzerland
CASTRO Germany Ltd. (subsidiary of CASTRO Model Ltd., Israel, http://www.castro.com)

Mission: Plan, develop and manage store performance in markets, maximize sales/profit and build brand

Achievements:
• built and developed the company in Germany and Switzerland from 0 to 11 stores and
established HQ team/infrastructure
• maximized sales and profit with double-digit growth nearly each year
• lead and developed a strong team of nearly 100 employees
• continuously improved KPI´s such as conversion rate or average deal
• improved merchandise offer according to local requirements through close liaising
with collection and merchandise management in Israel
• created and executed local marketing campaigns and promotions to sharpen brand
image and maximize sales
• translated Castro´s policies and practices to the local markets and continuously
searched for operational improvements to support growth

2001 – 2004 Director Business Development & Projects Heine Retail Division (Sport-Scheck, Eddie
Bauer Germany, Zara and Massimo Dutti Germany, Frankonia Jagd, CASTRO)
Heinrich Heine GmbH (member of Otto Group, http://www.heine.de, http://www.ottogroup.com)

Mission: Development and realization of retail strategy for the German Otto Group

Achievements:
• Approved retail strategy by Otto executive and shareholder board
• Yearly trend analyses in retail, society, science and technology
• Market-, sector and company analyses targeted to identify potential acquisition candidates in Germany, Spain, UK, France, Japan and USA
• M&A negotiations with identified top-retailers
• Closure of joint-venture contract with Castro Model Inc., Israel
2000 – 2001 Manager Marketing New Markets
Heinrich Heine GmbH (member of Otto Group, http://www.ottogroup.com)

Mission: Lead of mail order project USA + e-commerce and retail co-operation projects

Achievements:
• Analyzed US market competition to evaluate the premises for 5-Year-plan
• Developed concept for market entry USA
• Planned and realized catalog tests to validate the expectations with presence time in Chicago, USA from October 2000 – March 2001
• Negotiated with several e-commerce co-operation partners
• Developed business plans for these ventures

1999 – 2000 Head of Retail Project JOOP! (http://www.joop.com)
Heinrich Heine GmbH (member of Otto Group)

Mission: evaluate and potentially close master franchise deal with Joop!

Achievements:
• Closed master franchise contract with Joop!
• Ordered merchandise for three seasons
• Opened JOOP!-Store in Bremen (incl. co-ordination of construction, merchandise deliveries, staff recruitment, opening event)
• Set-up of new Heine subsidiary JOOP! Stores GmbH and transfer of responsibility to new General Manager

1998 – 1999 Project Manager Heine UK (International Marketing/Sales Department of Heine)
Heinrich Heine GmbH (member of Otto Group)

Mission: evaluate and potentially realize market entry to UK for Heine mail order

Achievements:
$ Planned project „Heine UK“
$ Co-ordinated between British partners and involved Heine departments
$ Developed Marketing-/5-Year-Plans (basis for P&L-simulations)
$ Organized several catalog tests in UK

1997 – 1998 Assistant to the Managing Director for Heine Retail start-up subsidiary CK-Calvin Klein Heinrich Heine GmbH (member of Otto Group)

Mission: prepare set-up of the company CK-Calvin Klein

Achievements:
• Prepared Purchasing Planning and Control system
• Ordered Merchandise in Italy
• Lead Project „Stock Control System“
• Supported in store location search
• Updated Investment and P&L-Planning

Education

1994 – 1997 Student sponsored by Otto Versand GmbH & Co. KG (member of Otto Group)
Academy of Business Administration, Karlsruhe, Germany
Major: Retail, grade: Dipl. Betriebswirt (= Bachelor Degree), final marks: 1,7

1993 – 1994 military service

1993 high school degree (Abitur) at Abteigymnasium Pulheim

Further skills

Computer: MS Office
Languages: German (native speaker)
English (fluent)
French (intermediate skills)
 

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Marius Schlesiona, Sascha Pillmann, Henning Tepe, Ayla ŞAHİN

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