Buyer - Apparel Men's and Collegiate Licensed

Cracker Barrel•Lebanon, TN

About The Position

Cracker Barrel is hiring a Buyer for Men’s Apparel and Collegiate Licensed Apparel. The role owns strategy and performance for these categories, covering product development and sourcing through launch and in-season management. It uses customer insights, market trends, and vendor partnerships to build compelling assortments that drive sales, margin, and brand-right growth. The Buyer leads category and assortment strategy, business reviews, product development, sourcing, financial performance, and vendor relationships. The role collaborates with Planning, Allocation, Supply Chain, Marketing, Visual Merchandising, Store Operations, and eCommerce, and presents recommendations and business results to leadership. It also includes coaching and developing at least one direct report. The position is based at Cracker Barrel’s Store Support Center. The posting does not specify a workplace arrangement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, Marketing, Retail Management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
At least 5 years of progressive experience in retail buying, merchandising, planning, or related commercial functions, with increasing ownership of category or assortment decisions.
Demonstrated success owning a category or major apparel assortment, with accountability for sales, margin, inventory productivity, and vendor performance.
Experience leading, coaching, and developing at least one direct report or having comparable people leadership responsibility.
Experience in assortment planning, product development, sourcing, pricing, and in-season business management.
Experience operating in a multi-channel retail environment and leading cross-functional decision-making.
Advanced analytical and financial acumen, including the ability to interpret sales, margin, inventory, forecast, and productivity metrics.
Deep understanding of retail math, assortment architecture, pricing strategy, open-to-buy management, and inventory optimization.
Strong product judgment and commercial instincts, with the ability to apply market trends and customer insights to assortment decisions.
Ability to make category-level decisions balancing customer perspective, brand standards, operational feasibility, and financial outcomes.
Strong negotiation, vendor management, communication, influence, presentation, and people leadership skills.
Ability to lead through ambiguity, prioritize multiple initiatives, and work effectively in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment.
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and merchandising, planning, forecasting, or enterprise retail systems.

Nice To Haves

Additional experience driving successful omni-channel businesses.
Experience owning men's and collegiate licensed apparel categories.
Experience developing private-label products.

Responsibilities

Own a merchandise category or portfolio, including assortment strategy, financial performance, vendor structure, and multi-season growth plans.
Translate customer insights, competitive intelligence, trend analysis, and business performance into differentiated assortment strategies.
Lead weekly and seasonal business reviews and take action on reorders, cancellations, promotions, markdowns, consolidations, and exits.
Evaluate SKU and assortment productivity to inform future buying strategies, space allocation, and portfolio optimization.
Lead product development and curation to ensure assortments meet customer needs, competitive positioning, and brand standards.
Identify whitespace opportunities, emerging trends, and product concepts that support category growth.
Manage category performance against sales, gross margin, turn, markdown, and inventory productivity targets.
Partner with Planning and Allocation on open-to-buy, receipt flow, item productivity, pricing architecture, and inventory investment.
Use retail math, forecasting, and scenario analysis to improve category returns and reduce inventory exposure.
Lead vendor relationships, including strategic sourcing, negotiations, cost management, performance expectations, and long-term partnership development.
Negotiate costs, terms, exclusivity, and product development opportunities.
Influence cross-functional partners to bring category strategies to market effectively.
Present category strategies, assortment recommendations, performance insights, and financial actions to leadership.
Lead cross-functional initiatives and category workstreams, aligning partners around priorities, decisions, timelines, and business outcomes.
Lead, coach, and develop at least one direct report; set expectations, prioritize work, provide feedback, and reinforce accountability.