Store Planner

Guitar Center•Westlake Village, CA

About The Position

The Store Planner manages product flow to Guitar Center stores in alignment with assortment strategy and replenishes active assortments to maintain strong in-stock positions. The role develops regional, district, and store stocking strategies to support strategic product allocation and sales, working with merchandise planners to communicate store needs and prevent shortages. The Store Planner also monitors distribution center activity and reserves to track inventory movement to stores. The position uses sales, inventory, and market information to guide allocations, support replenishment, and optimize inventory. It coordinates with merchandise planning, distribution centers, and logistics teams, and supports store openings, remodels, relocations, seasonal events, and discontinued-product exit strategies. The role also uses planning and analytics tools to execute proposals, evaluate performance, and provide analysis to senior leadership when requested.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree, preferably in Business, Merchandising, or Supply Chain, or four years of relevant work experience.
Two years of relevant work experience in addition to the degree or years of previous experience.
Strong analytical and data-manipulation skills to gain business insights.
Strong knowledge of planning systems.
Intermediate to advanced Excel skills.
Comprehensive knowledge of the retail industry, omnichannel, supply chain, and logistics.

Nice To Haves

Merchandising experience.

Responsibilities

Initiate model stock quantities for new product launches in alignment with merchant strategies, using historical sales, store tiers, customer demographics, and local market factors to determine distribution.
Monitor sales velocity and inventory health to keep top-selling items and seasonal products in stock across high-performing stores.
Customize allocations to reflect regional product preferences.
Track item-level performance across categories and adjust distribution based on sales trends, popularity, and market response.
Identify underperforming or overstocked items and adjust allocations or initiate transfers to improve inventory turns and minimize markdowns.
Anticipate allocation needs for key events, promotions, product launches, back-to-school season, and exclusive product drops.
Partner with merchandise planners to execute strategies aligned with financial targets and open-to-buy plans.
Communicate store-level trends, product feedback, and regional anomalies to inform future buys and assortments.
Work with distribution centers and logistics teams to support accurate and timely product deliveries to stores.
Execute allocation strategies for new, remodeled, or relocated stores based on projected sales potential and community needs.
Support exit strategies for discontinued products and aged inventory by reallocating items to high-performing clearance locations.
Use planning systems and internal platforms to execute order proposals, automated replenishment, and inventory optimization.
Analyze sales and inventory data to generate insights and inform allocation decisions.
Provide detailed store-level inventory and sales analysis for senior leadership as needed.