Cassie Schirra

Brands: FoxyBae, Ava, Luna Oversee a team of 5 in Product Development, Production Management and Sourcing. Specializing in supplier relationships, production, quality engineering, quality control, international sourcing, merchandising and product development. Areas of merchandising support include: market analysis, competitive landscape, price matrix, margin impact, forecast targets for omni-channel growth, SKU rationalization, supplier relationships, quality and compliance, shipping analysis, copywriting, packaging design and product design development.

Home Decor, Men’s Gifts & Barware Managed $80M P&L for 3 Department Categories on the West Coast Home Division. Partnered with over 50 vendor partners across the 3 categories with weekly visits to key partners for collaborative efforts. Grew the Home Decor category by +25% during pandemic/post-pandemic demand for Home. Chased trend with elevated design aesthetic in Lighting, Vases and Decorative Trays as the peak 80% volume buys. Managed to maintain average 2.4 WOS turns from SP’20-F’20 on a 3.0 seasonal turn plan. Gross Margin delivered +1,100BPS (56% vs. 45% plan) to planned Gross Margin target in 2021 by driving volume in core key items. Re-Built the Gifts & Barware category by developing 4 private label brands in an elevated specialty product and packaging designs across 400 SKU’s.

Lead and directed Jewelry and Shoes departments, accounting for 30% of company volume. Strategically worked in collaboration with the team to turn around a -12% comp sales trend (Spring 2016) in Jewelry to end the year flat comp with flat turn goals and flat Gross Margin Profit return. Utilized available resources by remaining liquid in funding to be able to fully execute the largest breadth of assortment in the Choker trend and be first to market with inventory available (BOM Nov 2016) and fully stocked at peak growth in the trend. By doing so, the Necklace category resulted in a +25% comp sales in peak Holiday 2016 selling. Recognized as team of the year at Francesca’s for 2016 and won CEO Award for 2016, due to positive results.

Lead and managed a team of talented individuals to execute and buy to deliver a flat comp sales performance on an aggressive LY & 2LY with trend category strength in the statement necklace business. Worked alongside the vendor community to discover key items to test and expand on, allowing agility and flexibility in reserves funding to chase orders resulting in comp sales increases.

Managed and bought Earrings and Rings categories resulting in +15% comp sales blend in a competitive business up against stacked positive historical comp performances. Grew Earrings category from 34% of department sales to 43% in a 9 month period and contributed to a Gross Margin Profit of +120bps for the department with growth of the Earring business. Developed and designed curated collections in different materials with key vendor partners, expanded based on strong turn performance and consistent strong volume contributions. Built strong partnerships with vendors who provided resources in design and higher quality material capabilities to offer value to the consumer. Renegotiated entire stock of replenishment Earring inventory for future orders to gain +200bps across the board on product with low markdown liability.

Execute buying responsibilities for $11 million P&L for fashion accessories businesses including belts, hair accessories and legwear; develop buisness strategies and optimize product assortment for 250+ doors. Developed, executed and managed seasonal financial plans, business strategies and merchandise assortment for the department from inception to completion. Collaborate with domestic and direct import vendors to design and develop trend-right, high quality, value-priced assortments that beat department margin and turn goals. Lead and develop Assistant Buyers in roles for cross functional partnership; determine feature items as Marketing Captain and retain strong partnerships as Vendor Communications Captain.

Developed and sourced products, negotiated with vendors and implemented programs based on sales history, trends and projected needs; reported directly to Senior Buyer. Acted as liason between the store operations department and merchants to communicate trend and product knowledge to stores. Responsible for the SLG classification and revitalized from -17% comp sales to +3% comp. Identified need for two-tiered pricing and negotiated aggresively to ensure lowest pricing which lead to an increased margin for the season.

Worked alongside the Handbags, Shoes, Apparel and Apparel Accessories departments. Responsible for maintaining purchase orders on order and in-transit by communicating with vendors for all departments. Re-negotiated all terms and discounts for 50+ vendors with updated agreement documents.

The Houston Galleria and The Domain Austin lifestyle store locations.

Vice President and University Student Co-Founder, American Association of Textiles Chemists and Colorists