Regional Merchant

About the role

At Ashley, we inspire the love of home and are the world's largest manufacturer of home furnishings. This role serves as the critical bridge between National Merchandising strategy and in-store customer demand, ensuring that product assortments, inventory flow, pricing execution, and visual presentation align with regional customer demographics and sales opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Localize national assortments based on regional customer demographics, home styles, and buying behavior
• Identify assortment gaps and regional opportunities within core categories such as Bedroom, Dining, Motion Upholstery, Stationary Upholstery and Occasional Furniture
• Recommend product swaps, expansions, or exits to maximize sales productivity
• Ensure store assortments reflect regional demand while maintaining brand consistency
• Analyze store-level sales performance and product velocity trends across the region
• Partner with Merchandise Planning & Supply Chain to adjust inventory allocation and replenishment strategies
• Drive improvements in Sales Per Square Foot, Sku Productivity, Category Mix and Margin Performance
• Conduct monthly store visits and velocity walks across assigned stores
• Evaluate floor placement effectiveness, product storytelling, competitive positioning, price perception, and product adjacencies
• Provide feedback and recommendations to improve visual merchandising and customer flow
• Lead product assortment planning and floor execution for new store openings, store relocations and major remodels
• Partner with Visual Merchandising and Store Operations to ensure optimal product presentation and assortment mix
• Validate that floor sets reflect regional sales opportunities and customer demographics
• Monitor local market conditions and competitive positioning
• Track competitor assortment strategies and pricing trends
• Identify regional customer lifestyle trends and emerging product opportunities
• Provide insights that inform national assortment strategies and product innovation

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Merchandising, Business, Retail Management, Supply Chain, Finance or related field
• 5-10+ Years retail merchandising experience
• Experience in furniture, home furnishings, or big ticket retail strongly preferred
• Proven track record of improving store sales and product performance
• Experience managing multi store retail environments