Associate Buyer

** Associate Buyer**
Job Title

Associate Buyer

Job ID

27556885

Location

Houston, TX 77006

Other Location

Description

**SUMMARY**
Wallys believes in going the extra mile for our customers, employees and community to provide a unique and memorable experience and to become the must-stop destination on your next Great American Road Trip. At Wallys, we provide a fun and inspiring workplace focused on our value proposition: Great Service, Tasty Food, Clean Restrooms and Unexpected Necessities. To do this, Wallys is bringing together a team of talented individuals to shape the growing Wallys community.
Reporting to the head of Operations located in Houston, TX, the Wallys **Associate Buyer** role is critical for the success of our current Pontiac store and for future Wallys locations. We are looking for an individual to support Wallys merchandising strategy, open to buy process, business analysis, purchasing, allocation, flow of goods, team relationships and communication. The ideal candidate will have a strong ability to self-motivate & drive initiative, while having a deep understanding of our retail strategy and customer. This is an analytical jobwe need someone who is very detail oriented and enjoys operating control-related standards and procedures.
**RESPONSIBILITIES:**
* Provide operational and administrative support to the Buyer, processing orders, inputting upload sheets, and ensuring invoices are received and deployed to the store.
* Ensure timely delivery of merchandise through consistent communication with vendors, distribution center, stores, and other cross-functional partners.
* Assist with writing and owning orders, preparing information and visuals for order reviews, ensuring orders are entered in a timely manner and maintaining purchase orders.
* Ensure Pricebook, UPC, naming, categorization, etc. information is added and maintained in Wallys POS system (PDI).
* Participate in markdown and store allocation strategies using knowledge from competitors and customers.
* Support planning and purchasing assortment in accordance with customer demand, market trends, and budget.
* Assist the buyer in the development of merchandise assortment plans and planograms for all locations.
* Monitor sales and inventory performance through the use of PDI reporting tools.
* Partner with Brand Experience to ensure Wallys branded items are purchased and refreshed as needed.
* Help manage the soon-to-release Wallys eCommerce site, partnering with the Pontiac Inventory team to ensure online orders make it to our customers.
* Complete ad hoc reporting based on initiatives, trends, and business needs.
**QUALIFICATIONS**
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
**Education:**
* Required: Bachelors Degree (BA) or equivalent from four-year college or university; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
* Preferred: Retail buying/Merchandising emphasis or Business degree.
**Experience:**
* 2-3 years retail merchandising, familiarity with the buying process for a major retailer.
* Preferred: Experience as an assistant buyer in a retail space.
**Skills and Abilities:**
* Strong knowledge/experience in retail math (understand the language, calculates figures and amounts).
* Aptitude to evaluate financial and business trends and translate information into action items, can leverage analytical skills.
* Intermediate Microsoft Application skills primarily Excel and PowerPoint.
* Detail oriented with sound decision making skills and the ability to plan and prioritize.
* Balance between merchandising, inventory management and analytical skills.
* Possesses an entrepreneurial spirit demonstrating the ability to adapt to constant change.
* The ability to work under pressure in a dynamic environment and quickly identify problems and recommend solutions.
* Precise and professional email communication.
* Team player with the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people.
**Language Skills:**
* Ability to read, write, speak, and understand English in a manner that is sufficient for effective communication with groups of managers, clients, customers and the general public.
**Special Physical and/or Mental Requirements:**
* Willing and able to work additional hours when needed.
* Bend, lift, open and move product and related office items varying in weight from 1 to 25 lbs, depending on need.
**Travel Required:** Yes, 20% of the time.

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