Buyer

At Blain’s Farm & Fleet, we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to have a job they love, work in a great environment, grow their career, and enjoy a positive balance. As a family-owned retailer, we take pride in offering a competitive benefits package designed to support you and your life. Associates hired into a full-time role become eligible for the following benefits effective their 91st day of full-time employment.

Benefits

• Medical, Prescription, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Life Insurance
• Ancillary Benefits
• Identity Theft Protection
• Pet Insurance
• All major holidays and your birthday off
• Advanced Leadership Training Programs to build career skills
• Associate discount on name brands like Carhartt, Under Armour, STIHL, Milwaukee Tool, and DeWalt
• Internal recognition programs that support an engaged workplace
• 401(K) with company match

Pay

Base pay starting between $75,000 - $90,000/yr. The pay listed may vary based on experience. Compensation decisions consider training, experience, work location, required travel, and external market conditions.

Responsibilities

• Product selection, assortment planning, and securing the best overall program cost including terms, freight, and defective allowance to ensure corporate sales and profitability goals are met
• Forecasting, inventory management, sales analysis and planning, vendor negotiations and relations, merchandising, marketing/advertising, communications, and special projects
• Act as the strategic leader of the business, responsible for gaining company alignment and support on brand-driven and customer-centric strategies and owning outcomes of sales, margin, and inventory
• Lead categories and be the primary decision-maker in terms of product assortment, pricing, forecasting, and merchandising strategies based on historic data, current trends, and future forecasts
• Establish and maintain vendor partnerships; schedule and participate in vendor meetings both on and off-site
• Negotiate product costs, terms, and shipping/returns issues; maintain communications with DMM regarding vendor performance
• Collaborate with merchandising, distribution center, and stores to track shipments and floor purchase orders
• Work with internal business partners to support goals, solve challenges, and manage business
• Review inventory regularly, including merchandise orders; maintain current data on sales and product trends to plan future purchases
• Work with analysts to optimize inventory mix and levels
• Search for closeouts/special buys and identify and maximize key items via test strategies
• Execute short-term buying plans based on open-to-buy dollars and long-term strategies
• Design marketing/advertising placement and proof copy to ensure desired outcome; plan special promotional events
• Ensure ad merchandise arrives in store before ad dates and follow up with vendors and distribution centers to track ad prep and sales results
• Determine and approve product-pricing strategies to achieve specific margin objectives; execute exit-strategies on slow-selling items and recommend appropriate markdowns
• Partner across marketing channels to ensure advertising positioning and communication strategy supports sales goals
• Establish and maintain budgets including financial planning, sales, inventory, turns, and margins
• Measure and report on category performance, KPIs, planning, forecasting, and objectives

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a related field is preferred
• 5 to 7 years of retail buying experience
• Possess a valid driver’s license
• Proficiency with Microsoft Suite
• Strong problem-solving skills