Our team is growing and currently responsible for generating annual sales in excess of $200M. Today, we have 11 individuals on the Produce Team working in a fast paced and entrepreneurial environment. Nothing is more important than preserving our team CULTURE of quick decisions, collaboration and mutual respect for everyone on the team. Our team values individuals with the ability to recognize business opportunities and quickly re-prioritize the workload most important to our mission of saving our customers money. The team values an environment where everyone’s voice is heard and respects individuals who are willing to put the greater good of the team before individual accolades. Because our opportunistic supply of product is the life blood of our business, our team puts the needs of our opportunistic suppliers first and works to provide SOLUTIONS that enable us to purchase excess inventories and transform these often challenging inventories into a retail offering that can be sold in our network of independently operated stores. Nothing is more important than our supplier relationships so our goal is simple, provide the fastest and most comprehensive solutions while building long-term relationships based on trust and integrity.
As the Floral Buyer you will be reporting to the Vice President of Produce and Floral. The Floral Buyer will be supported by a shared Assistant Buyer along with additional support provided by Field Merchandisers/Supplier Partners. This candidate will be responsible for managing all aspects of your assigned categories within the department. The right candidate must possess the strategic planning and communication skills needed to plan and direct the future growth of your assigned floral and produce categories as well as make quick buying decisions, manage key supplier relationships and provide direction to Supplier Partners. You must be able to manage a dynamic merchandise assortment that changes weekly based on the opportunistic inventories available while maintaining department sales, profit and overall company objectives. Given the unique nature of your assigned categories, this individual must have the ability to develop a solid understanding of Grocery Outlets core customer and have a “gut merchant” sense about how various items will perform at deeply discounted retails (without the benefit of good historical sales data).
Ultimately, the right candidate will have a strong desire to help bring the Grocery Outlet Floral program to the next level of service.
- Manage weekly and monthly procurement throughout multiple supplier partner distribution centers, including purchase order management and inventory control.
- Effectively communicate between multiple parties to include supplier partners, field merchandisers, operations, purchasing team, and the grower community.
- Possess an entrepreneurial spirit and enjoys taking calculated risks.
- Collaborate with the Planning and Strategy team to assist in analyzing category profits, sales and reports.
- Recognize current and future Industry trends and react accordingly.
- Provide regular feedback to ensure continuous development in improving and enhancing department and team to achieve company objectives.
- Assisting and educate operators in achieving profitable results in sales, merchandising and inventory management.
- Responsible for maintaining an effective line of communication to the stores regarding products, market conditions and changes in G.O.I. best practices and procedures regarding assigned categories.
- 15 to 25% overnight travel required.
- 3+ years of Floral Retail, Wholesale or Grower experience.
- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Proficient in the use of MS Excel, Word, Outlook, PPT
- Positive, self-starter who is able to manage their own work, is well organized, detail oriented, and has good follow-through.