Brian Laliberte

Current

• COO at Green Beans Coffee Company

Past

• President & COO at SmartMove Auto
• Interim CEO at Fitwize 4 Kids
• Chief Executive Officer at Illuminations

• COO & President at Illuminations
• Chief Operating Officer at OneBody
• Chief Operating Officer at ZoZa International
• SVP of Operations & CIO at BabyCenter
• Chief Information Officer at Peet's Coffee
• Director of Information Systems at Disney Direct Marketing
• VP of Information Systems at Smith & Hawken

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Education

• National University - San Diego
• University of San Diego

Recommended

10 people have recommended Brian

Connections

176 connections

Industry

Retail

Websites

• My Company
• My Portfolio

Brian Laliberte’s Summary

Executive Manager with over 20 years experience contributing to the profitability and growth of FORTUNE 500 and smaller retail and internet pure-play businesses. Focus on strategic planning, operations, supply chain management, process improvement, project management, and team building.
Strong P&L, Retail Operations, Wholesale, Franchise, eCommerce, Direct Mail/Catalog, CRM, and Web development experience.

Management style of empowering team members to take initiative, foster accountability and inspire individual, team and company success.

Strong track record utilizing expertise in multi-channel sales, marketing, merchandising and operations producing consistent positive results.

Brian Laliberte’s Specialties:

KEY AREAS OF EXPERTISE
+ Strategic Business Planning / Execution
+ Business Operations
+ New Business Development / Growth
+ Retail
+ Direct Mail/Catalog
+ On-line eCommerce
+ Wholesale
+ Franchise Development & Operations
+ Multi-channel Retailing & Marketing
+ Turnaround Reorganization
+ Change Management
+ Motivational team approach

Brian Laliberte’s Experience

• COO

  Green Beans Coffee Company

  (Retail industry)

  January 2009 — Present (1 year )

  Responsible for managing and developing the US operation in all business and distribution channels including retail, wholesale, franchising, on-line e-commerce and developing the brand in the US market

• President & COO

  SmartMove Auto

  (Financial Services industry)

  April 2007 — December 2008 (1 year 9 months)

  Day-to-Day Executive & Retail Operations for a National Branded Multi-unit Used Car Dealership

• Interim CEO

  Fitwize 4 Kids

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Retail industry)

  July 2006 — April 2007 (10 months)

  SALES PROCESS REALIGNMENT / DOUBLE-DIGIT SALES GROWTH / PROCESS INNOVATION
  
  Fitwize 4 Kids: Franchise operation for Children’s fitness centers ages 6 ½ to 15 years of age. Revenue $1 million with 30 Studios.
  www.fitwize4kids.com
  
  Responsible for managing all day-to-day operations for corporate offices and liaison between the operating practices of the franchisee owners. Directed a staff of 4 and an operating budget of ~$1million in P&L
  
  Developed a short-term business and financial plan to raise capital $250-500K to support the growth over the next several years and build the infrastructure needed to support 600-1,000 units
  
  Identified shortfalls in local, regional and national marketing programs. Spearheaded process controls around marketing spending and timing of all marketing events, collateral and offers.
  
  Provided strategic process to manage franchisee sales cycle, improving conversion and close rates

• Chief Executive Officer

  Illuminations

  (Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Retail industry)

  August 2004 — April 2006 (1 year 9 months)

  TURNAROUND / POSITIVE SALES COMPS & REVERSED TREND / PRODUCT INNOVATION
  
  Illuminations: Home décor, gift and candle specialty retailer. Revenues $50 million with 800+ employees. www.illuminations.com
  
  Commenced role as CEO, emerging from reorganization based on compelling leadership strengths and the ability to lead an executive team through a turnaround process.
  
  Repositioned the brand and merchandise to depict, offer and sell complete product solutions. Leveraged print and electronic media to build life-style branding and product assortment selling across all sales channels. Impact of sales & marketing strategy resulted in 8+% positive comp growth in 2005 at 8+%.
  
  Redesigned and restructured the on-line web-business to enhance user experience adding advanced search tools, best practices to global navigation, targeted gateway pages resulting in Internet Retailer’s Top 50 Award in 2005.

• COO & President

  Illuminations

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Retail industry)

  April 2002 — August 2004 (2 years 5 months)

  INTRODUCED PROCESS / REDUCED OPERATING EXPENSE / MULTI-CHANNEL SALES FOCUS
  
  Responsible for all sales channels including retail, direct, catalog, wholesale and liquidation. Managed retail ops, on-line sales team, DC, call center, logistics, information technology and facilities. Directed a staff of 1,100+ and an operating budget of ~$40 million, including P&L
  
  Developed and deployed store staff training transforming customers into clients: conversion rose from 15% to 22%.
  
  Developed a payroll matrix to control payroll spending resulting in savings of $300K/month during peak season.
  
  Built and deployed open-to-buy system to manage the inventory supply chain. Inventory turn increase by 40% within first year. Integrated across all sales channels and real-time management of all location inventories.
  
  Restructured DC infrastructure to maximize inbound and outbound productivity, quality control and overall process flow resulting in a 30% reduction in operating expense.

• Chief Operating Officer

  OneBody

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Health, Wellness and Fitness industry)

  May 2001 — April 2002 (1 year )

  TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION & LEGACY CONSOLIDATION / NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTIONS / CALL CENTER TRANSFORMATION
  
  OneBody: Healthcare and healthy living company. Revenues $10 million with 60 employees.
  www.onebody.com
  
  Responsible for building and maintaining a practitioner network of over 60,000 Healthcare professionals in the Complementary Alternative Medicine Industry. Managed all IT systems, call center, credentialing, recruiting, practitioner services, and production. Directed a staff of 40 and a budget of $8 million, including P&L.
  
  Consolidated legacy and Web-based practitioner environments resulting in productivity increase of 20%, and self service application used by over 10,000 practitioners
  
  Implemented proximity algorithm for call center reducing call times by 30%-50%, and staffing by 20%
  
  Built innovate on-line/web-base services for individuals to manage their stress, weight control, daily living and good health practices.

• Chief Operating Officer

  ZoZa International

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Retail industry)

  September 2000 — May 2001 (9 months)

  REVENUE & PROFIT GROWTH / INNOVATIVE ON-LINE STORE
  
  ZoZa International: Founders of Banana Republic - Apparel specialty retail company. Revenues $8 million with 60 employees
  www.zoza.com
  
  Responsible for all daily operations, including e-commerce, apparel production, marketing, merchandising, inventory planning, internet traffic, distribution, and fulfillment. Managed a staff of 50 and a budget of $12 million.
  
  Developed e-commerce and content-rich site using ATG Dynamo and Oracle. Completed integration with third party fulfillment and Oracle Financials.
  
  Managed and implemented on/off-line marketing efforts for retail stores, print catalog, wholesale and e-commerce channels
  
  Renegotiated all agreements, reducing up-front monies and monthly fees. Generated $3 million annual savings by reducing the third party call center and fulfillment agreement. Raised $10 million from venture partnerships and VC capital.

• SVP of Operations & CIO

  BabyCenter

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; ETYS; Internet industry)

  March 1999 — November 2000 (1 year 9 months)

  ENTERPRISE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT / EXPONENTIAL SLAES GROWTH / STAFF DEVELOPMENT
  
  BabyCenter: Online supplier of infant products. Revenues of $50 million and 175 employees. Was acquired by eToys.
  www.babycenter.com
  
  Managed all IT systems, inventory planning, call center, DC and merchandising. Directed a staff of 140, budget of $17 million. P&L responsibility for $40 million.
  
  Designed and implemented complete CRM application suite with several functions, including order entry, customer service, prospecting, marketing, inventory planning, warehouse management, interfaces to 3rd party financials, sales analysis tools and reporting.
  
  Managed Merchandising and Inventory Planning departments, driving growth of the product assortment to become the category leader for baby on-line with ~8,000 SKUs. Achieved 10% to 300% sales growth monthly. Developed new categories producing double digit sales growth.

• Chief Information Officer

  Peet's Coffee

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; PEET; Retail industry)

  November 1997 — March 1999 (1 year 5 months)

  NEW ON-LINE SALES CHANNEL / OPERATIONS RESTRUCTURE
  
  Peet's Coffee
  Manufacturer and multi-channel retailer of coffee and tea products. Revenues $75 million with 1200 employees/45 stores
  www.peets.com (2 Employment Periods: 11/97 – 3/99 & 7/95 – 3/96)
  
  Responsible for all systems, call centers, internet and catalog operation. Managed a staff of 30, directed a budget of $18 million, including P&L.
  
  Implemented integrated e-commerce solution including advanced continuity programs, e-mail confirmations and interfaces to legacy systems. Increased on-line business from $150,000 to $1.5 million within 12 months.
  
  Designed and implemented a POS system including legacy system integration, automatic replenishment, kiosk order B2C features and 3rd party interfaces for supply chain management: overall sales increased by 4%, hardgoods sales by 30% and productivity by 12%.
  
  Implemented new fulfillment processing systems to manage high double-digit grow from B2C customers

• Director of Information Systems

  Disney Direct Marketing

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; DIS; Retail industry)

  March 1996 — February 1998 (2 years )

  3x ANNUAL SALES GROWTH / NEW SYSTEMS / PROCESS INTRODUCTION
  
  Disney Direct Marketing: Disney catalog, private label credit card, and the on-line Disney store. Revenues $200 million with 1,600 employees.
  store.disney.com
  
  Responsible for all IT, 3rd party call centers, and merchandise assortment for e-commerce Disney store. Managed a staff of 30, directed a total budget of $35 million.
  
  Built IT staffing department to support multiple remote sites, PC’s, telecom/WAN, legacy systems, operations, retail outlet stores, software development and strategic planning. Achieved triple digit annual growth: $60 to $181 Million.
  
  Provided Disney Store website with merchandising and interfaces to legacy fulfillment systems, sales analysis and on-line store functionality. Helped develop call center synergy including overflow support of up to 1,200 CSRs for each division.
  
  Built new 500,000 square feet warehouse, customized third party WMS and fulfilled 100,000 orders in two shifts

• VP of Information Systems

  Smith & Hawken

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Retail industry)

  June 1989 — September 1995 (6 years 4 months)

  SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT / OPERATIONS EXPENSE CONTROL
  
  Smith & Hawken: Multi-channel retailers owned and operated by CML including The Nature Company, Smith & Hawken, Hear Music, Scientific Revolution and Nordic Track. Revenues $250 million with 2,000+ employees.
  www.smithandhawken.com
  
  Responsible for all direct marketing systems, logistics and operations for CML umbrella companies including all best practices, procedures and personnel management. Revenues $250 million with 2,000+ employees.
  
  Designed, built and implemented a consumer package, MarketPlace Direct™, for the direct marketing business , including complete supply chain modules and interfaces to legacy systems using IBM AS/400 platform Lansa development tools
  
  Developed reporting and analysis tools to manage all operating, marketing and revenue metric for each independent business unit and roll-up for corporate review
  
  Built and supported over-flow call center operations for Nordic Track

Brian Laliberte’s Education

• National University - San Diego

  MS , Software Engineering , August 1988 — December 1989

• University of San Diego

  BA , Computer Science & Mathematics , September 1982 — June 1986

Additional Information

Brian Laliberte’s Websites:

• My Company
• My Portfolio

Brian Laliberte’s Groups:

eCommerce & Multichannel Retailing

•    Retail Industry Professionals Group
•    Peet's Alumni
•    COO Forum

Brian Laliberte’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• expertise requests
• reference requests
• getting back in touch