Regional Merchant

About the Role

The Regional Merchant is responsible for driving store-level product performance, assortment execution, and revenue growth across a defined group of retail stores with a territory of 10-20 Stores. 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.

Operating within a multibillion-dollar furniture retail environment, the Regional Merchant manages 10-20 stores within a defined geographic territory, partnering closely with National Merchandising, Merchandise Planning, Visual Merchandising, Store Operations, Store Sales, and Supply Chain to maximize product velocity, margin performance, and customer experience.

The Regional Merchant plays a pivotal role in ensuring that store assortments are optimized for local customer needs while maintaining alignment with national brand strategies.

Responsibilities

• Regional Assortment Optimization
  • 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
• Store Product Performance Management
  • Analyze store-level sales performance and product velocity trends across the region
  • Identify top performers, underperformers, and emerging trends
  • 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
• In Store Product Execution
  • 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
• New Store & Remodel Support
  • 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
• Cross Functional Partnership
  • National Merchandising - Provide regional insight to include future product development and assortment planning
  • Merchandise Planning - Align on inventory levels, allocation strategies, and demand signals
  • Visual Merchandising - Ensure product placement aligns with customer flow and storytelling
  • Store Operations - Support store teams with product knowledge and sales enablement
  • Retail Supply Chain - Identify supply issues impacting store availability and sales opportunities
  • Retail Sales Department - Partner on assortment with RSA’s, Store Managers, and Regional Directors regarding assortment performance, assortment gaps as well as customer insight for assortment regionalization
• Regional Market Intelligence
  • 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

Requirements

• 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

Skills

• Analytical Thinking
• Customer Insight
• Merchandising Judgement
• Cross Functional Leadership
• Store Execution Excellence
• Communication Cross Functionally

Work Environment

This position is located in a climate-controlled office environment with standard lighting and moderate noise levels typical of professional workspace settings. The role primarily involves sitting at a desk for extended periods while working with computers, phones, and other office equipment. The collaborative environment includes interaction with team members and may require attendance at meetings, conference calls, and cross-departmental communications during regular business hours.

Benefits

• Health, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program
• Paid Time Off; increases with years of service
• Generous Employee Discount on home furnishings
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Tuition Assistance
• Ashley Wellness Centers (location specific)
• 401(k) and Profit Sharing
• Life Insurance

Core Values

• Honesty & Integrity: Acts with transparency, discretion, and ethical judgment. Trusted to handle sensitive information and provide accurate, unbiased insights. (Dirty Fingernail: Takes full accountability for outcomes, not just tasks. Inspects details, ensures data accuracy, and follows through to completion.)
• Continuous Improvement: Actively seeks better ways to improve templates, tools, and processes. Learns from prior initiatives and embeds lessons into standard work.
• Growth & Results Focus: Understands how transformation initiatives drive growth, cost reduction, and profitability. Keeps work aligned to enterprise priorities.
• Culture of Leadership: Leads through influence, reliability, and example. Builds trust across functions and supports leaders at every level.
• Customer-Centric & Boundaryless: Works across silos for the greater good of the organization. Ensures outputs meet the needs of executives, initiative owners, and teams.
• Operational Excellence: Demonstrates strong organizational discipline, attention to detail, and the ability to translate ambiguity into clear, executable tools.