Carey Smith

• Responsible for Buying, Planning and Allocation including Footwear, Men’s/Women’s/Kid’s Apparel, Accessories and Equipment for all Vans Retail and Outlet Stores across the UK and Europe leading a Team of 13 members.

• Partnered with the Denim and Apparel Design Teams to deliver profitable brand-right collections and product assortments for the 7 For All Mankind Men's Line.

• Responsible for US Retail Account Development and New Client sales for the Nielsen Claritas division. • Partnered with clients by recommending and implementing Nielsen Data, Tools and Consumer Insights to best assist them in determining optimal new store locations and maximizing existing store performance by leveraging Nielsen products as an input to their local tailored market assortment strategy.

• Created and introduced industry best practices across Buying, Financial/Assortment Planning and Allocation enabling organizations to maximize the benefits of their implementations.

• Worked with numerous Fortune 100 corporations as a Retail Subject Matter Expert engaging on projects ranging from Supply Chain Optimization to fully integrated Merchandise Planning solutions.

• Responsible for area in excess of $220M in annual sales and 372 retail units. • Led the six department stores to achieve store for store sales growth by identifying key trends and ensuring consistent, meaningful merchandise assortments through vendor review, competitive shopping analysis and market knowledge.

• Managed area in excess of $100M in annual sales and 150 retail units.

• Developed strategic buying and merchandising directives in order to achieve financial objectives.

• Responsible for area in excess of $30 million in annual sales and 40 retail stores. • Duties included vendor negotiations for markdown allowance and returns, gross margin projections, achieving EOM stock plans, achieving sales plan, and communications with stores to ensure proper execution of company strategies.