Howard Park

Head of Purchasing - Grocery @ Lotte Plaza Market

About

I began my career in grocery retail in Korea in the early 1990s, inspired by how convenience stores changed everyday shopping through speed and efficiency. That curiosity led me into purchasing and merchandising, a field I have worked in ever since. I have built my career across Korea and the United States, operating in diverse retail environments—from urban Asian supermarkets to large-scale e-commerce grocery platforms. 🌏 Korea · Japan · China · Thailand, Vietnam, Philippine and other Southeast Asia My experience covers sourcing, merchandising, and supply-chain execution across multiple countries, managing thousands of SKUs in both fresh and packaged food categories. As a merchandising and purchasing leader at companies such as Weee! and H Mart, I have overseen multi-million-dollar portfolios, led cross-functional teams, negotiated international vendor agreements, and supported private-brand growth while balancing margin, cost, and speed to market. I focus on building scalable, profitable grocery categories through strong vendor partnerships and disciplined procurement strategies. More about my work: https://howard-park.super.site

Country

City

United States

Industry

Retail

Skill

Category Management, Project Management, Management, Problem Solving, Customer Service, Critical Thinking, Supplier Evaluation, Strategic Sourcing, COGS, Business Reviews, Negotiation, Logistics Management, Strategy, Tableau, Python (Programming Language), Teamwork, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel, Leadership, Microsoft Word

Experience

Head of Purchasing - Grocery

Lotte Plaza Market

2024-2 - Present · 2 yrs 8 mos

Jessup, Maryland, United States

Director Of Merchandising

Weee!

2021-9 - 2023-11 · 2 yrs 3 mos

United States

● Led a cross-functional team of 10+ merchandising experts, overseeing the strategic management of inventory, pricing, and promotions of eCommerce products across the United States. ● Orchestrated the allocation of an annual budget of $50mil, directing the purchasing and distribution of 2,000+ SKUs sourced from Korea, Japan, and China to the U.S. eCommerce market. ● Spearheaded strategic negotiations of procurement contracts, arranging the transportation and the storage of 10,000,000 units to ensure efficient lead time and the optimization of the supply in order to meet customer demands. ● Introduced a new category of products to the U.S. eCommerce space, resulting in $3mil+ revenue in 2023. ● Leveraged BI software, Tableau, to drive critical decisions for 2000+ SKUs, identifying timing and tempo of product promotions to increase the revenue by $15mil in 2023.

Co-Founder

EYN

2018-9 - 2021-8 · 3 yrs

Seoul, South Korea

● Founded EYN, a household goods enterprise involved in manufacturing and sourcing kitchenware, small appliances, glassware, and various household goods from China and Turkey, supplying goods to a major retailer and eCommerce app in Korea, resulting in a revenue of $6mil in 2023.

Founder

Asian Fooods Express

2018-9 - 2021-8 · 3 yrs

Los Angerles

● Founded "Asian Foods Express" a company focused on importing Asian foods from China, Vietnam, and Korea to the United States.

Head of Merchant & General Manager of Warehouse

H Mart

2009-10 - 2018-9 · 9 yrs

● Directed the Asian Groceries Purchasing team of 20+, managing the inventory, the pricing, and the promotion of 10,000+ SKUs ● Pioneered the development of PB products, introducing 100+ SKUs of Asian food products sourced from the US, China, Korea, and Vietnam. ● Created the Overseas Product Import Decision Table, optimizing the ordering quantity based on lead time and current inventory. ● Diversified sourcing channels from Korea to Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and China. ● Managing warehouse in Maryland by overseeing receiving, WH management, dispatching, and HR of warehouse employees