Merchandise Buyer - Wellness, Personal Care, Gift, and Media

Flynt Management Group•Century City, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

HUSTLER Hollywood Entertainment, Inc. is seeking a talented Merchandise Buyer. This position is responsible for driving sales, profitability, inventory productivity, and assortment performance across assigned Wellness, Personal Care, Gift, & Media categories. The Buyer combines a deep understanding of the customer, business strategy, financial goals, and market trends to develop and execute category plans that support company objectives. Working closely with the Category Manager, this role partners in developing assortment strategies, identifying opportunities for growth, managing vendor relationships, and executing inventory and replenishment strategies to maximize business performance. Success in this role requires strong analytical skills, business acumen, commercial thinking, and the ability to effectively balance strategic decision-making with day-to-day execution. The ideal candidate is highly organized, collaborative, curious, and driven by delivering results.

Requirements

4–6+ years of retail buying, merchandising, category management, or related experience.
Proven experience managing vendor relationships, inventory, replenishment, and category performance.
Strong analytical, financial, and strategic thinking skills with the ability to make data-driven decisions.
Demonstrated ability to balance strategic planning with executional excellence.
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills including Pivot Tables, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, and business analysis.
Strong negotiation and relationship management skills.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail and follow-through.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and thrive in a fast-paced retail environment.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Category Manager to develop and execute category strategies that drive sales, margin, inventory productivity, and overall category growth.
Analyze daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal business performance to identify opportunities, challenges, and actionable recommendations.
Develop assortment plans and product recommendations based on customer insights, sales trends, competitive analysis, and market opportunities.
Monitor category performance and recommend actions related to pricing, promotions, markdowns, inventory investments, and product lifecycle.
Drive category KPIs including sales, gross margin, inventory turns, sell-through, stock-to-sales ratios, and in-stock performance through inventory management.
Collaborate with the Category Manager on OTB management, inventory levels, and inventory productivity.
Maintain a strong understanding of the competitive landscape, industry trends, customer needs, and emerging product opportunities.
Identify opportunities for category expansion, product innovation, and business growth.
Lead or participate in special projects and category initiatives that support company growth and operational excellence.
Keep the Category Manager informed of key business trends, opportunities, risks, and project updates.
Collaborate with Planning and Allocations to execute timely orders, reorders, transfers, and cancellations based on business performance and inventory needs.
Partner closely with Planning and Allocation to optimize inventory flow, stock levels, and inventory deployment strategies.
Support key promotional periods, seasonal transitions, floorsets, and product launches through effective inventory planning and execution.
Monitor inventory health and proactively identify opportunities to improve stock positions, reduce excess inventory, and improve inventory turns.
Ensure SKU count is on plan by product tier and store cluster.
Maintain up to date size scales by store, category, and cluster to ensure proper store allocation and inventory optimization.
Execute SKU rationalization by sub-category and manage all markdowns.
Own replenishment planning and inventory management for assigned categories.
Build and maintain strong relationships with vendors and brand partners.
Lead vendor communications regarding assortments, pricing, promotions, inventory needs, product launches, fulfillment challenges, and future opportunities.
Negotiate costs, promotional support, markdown assistance, RTVs, exclusives, and business terms that support company financial objectives.
Manage all aspects of the purchase order process, including order placement, revisions, follow-up, and issue resolution.
Build strong partnerships across Marketing, Planning, Allocation, Operations, Stores, Visual Merchandising, Inventory Control and Accounts Payable.
Present business insights, hindsight analysis, category performance, and strategic initiatives in cross-functional meetings to drive alignment and support organizational goals.
Partner with Marketing and Visual teams to support product launches, promotional campaigns, and brand partnerships.
Partner with the Category Manager and Visual Merchandising team to optimize store layouts, product placement, and assortment productivity.
Collaborate with regional field leadership to identify opportunities, gather customer feedback, and improve category performance.