Salt Life Buyer - Retail Stores

Delta Apparel, Inc., along with its operating subsidiaries, DTG2Go, LLC, Salt Life, LLC, and M.J. Soffe, LLC, is a vertically integrated, international apparel company that designs, manufactures, sources, and markets a diverse portfolio of core activewear and lifestyle apparel products under the primary brands of Salt Life®, Soffe®, and Delta.

The Salt Life brand strives to effortlessly combine function and fashion with an incredible fit tailored for the active lifestyle. With its relentless dedication to providing gear and designs that transcend, it has successfully evolved into a lifestyle brand with worldwide appeal. Whether it’s surfing, fishing, diving or simply enjoying a day at the beach, those who live and breathe the Salt Life have one thing in common... the ocean and all it has to offer!

Salt Life is seeking a Buyer - Retail Storesworking out of either our Columbus, GA, or Jacksonville Beach, FL office. This role will be responsible for all categories within Salt Life company-owned retail locations across the US. You will drive product assortment across stores, work with the locations to curate assortment based on each region/store need, and develop and execute product strategy to meet company goals. This position works closely with Planning, Purchasing, the Director of Retail Operations, the National Visual Merchandising Manager, and reports to the Vice President of Retail. This is a hybrid position, working Monday to Friday with a requirement of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the office and Monday and Friday at home.

Essential Job Functions

• Oversee the end-to-end buy lifecycle: curate assortment, sizing, allocation, selling, and markdowns for 28 stores and future new locations
• Develop and execute merchandise assortment plan tailored to volume, SKU count capabilities, regional market, and store capacities to ensure appropriate depth is achieved by store volume and size
• Responsible for calculating and managing gross margin, turnover, and OTB
• Generate, submit, validate, and track purchase orders in BlueCherry
• Ensure purchase orders are imported into the retail POS system
• Oversee the delivery of purchase orders and ensure timely and effective communication of delivery status updates to Store Managers
• Manage reorders and inter-store transfers
• Maximize sales, margin, and inventory efficiency by communicating product knowledge and partnering with Visual Merchandising to develop strategic store merchandising plans
• Prepare weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual selling reports to analyze product performance and sales metrics highlighting key business wins, opportunities, and forward-looking action plans
• Ensure markdowns, promotions, and pricing strategies support financial goals
• Responsible for the upload of new product SKUs, price changes, markdowns, and promotions into the retail POS system
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with cross-functional team members
• Own the SMU program
• Partner with the Marketing team to ensure product alignment with advertising and editorial
• Manage vendor relationships, monitor industry trends, and evaluate competition
• Some travel required to stores, corporate offices, and other facilities

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Fashion or Business preferred
• 5+ years of buying or planning experience with a medium or large-scale retailer required
• Experience with buying for 20+ stores
• Strong analytical and math skills, specifically in merchandise planning
• Excellent Excel skills
• Strong self-initiative, prioritization, multi-task, and time management skills
• Must possess a keen eye for design, trends, and color
• Ability to adapt and learn internal business systems
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Detail-oriented and strong organizational skills
• Reliable and meets deadlines

The job description is not an all-inclusive list of duties performed. Employees may be required to perform other duties to meet the ongoing needs and growth of Salt Life. Internal promotions to this position may be considered without having met all the experience requirements listed. This will be based on the depth, length, and success of experience while working at Salt Life.