San Francisco Bay Area
- Current
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- National Sales Coordinator at Wordlock, Inc.
- Past
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- Shift Lead/Sales Associate at Peet's Coffee & Tea
- National Sales Associate at Chronicle Books
- Business Analyst/Consultant at Rebecca's A Coffee House (Sole Proprietorship)
- Merchandising Director at The Johnny "V" Vernazza Band (Sole Proprietorship)
- Sales Operations Manager at Diamond Electronics
- Sales/Marketing Manager at Advanced Marketing Services
- Sales Analyst/Buyer Assistant at Trans World Entertainment, Inc.
- Store Manager at Toys R Us
- Education
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- Clemson University
- Recommended
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4 people have recommended Thomas - Connections
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184
connections
- Industry
- Consumer Goods
Thomas Blau’s Summary
CORE STRENGTHS:
Product placement, merchandising, market analysis, reviewing sales trends, forecasting, budgeting, product distribution, operations and seasonal sales planning.
SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS:
Managed over $80 million in annual book sales at Advanced Marketing Services. Increased local and regional book sales 40% by targeting product to selected club groups.
Created weekly market share reports for Trans World Entertainment from data provided by Soundscan and Videoscan. Responsible for weekly reporting of regional market share data and targeted product placement and sales trends.
Thomas Blau’s Experience
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National Sales Coordinator
Wordlock, Inc.
(Consumer Goods industry)
January 2009 — Present (7 months)
Responsible for the coordination of sales and inventory for Wordlock, Inc.
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Shift Lead/Sales Associate
Peet's Coffee & Tea
(Public Company; PEET; Retail industry)
April 2008 — December 2008 (9 months)
Responsibilities included employee supervision, store operations and cash management for scheduled shifts including inventory management and merchandising. Also, managed shift employees for efficient operations and customer service. Provided customer service and barista training at the South San Francisco Location.
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National Sales Associate
Chronicle Books
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry)
May 2008 — August 2008 (4 months)
Provided assistance to the Club, Mass Market and Home Improvement Sales Team by presenting, reviewing, processing and tracking customer orders. Reserved current and future customer inventory needs based on sales trends and budget projections. This position was a part time, temporary position filling in for the National Sales Manager during her maternity leave.
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Business Analyst/Consultant
Rebecca's A Coffee House (Sole Proprietorship)
(Sole Proprietorship; 1-10 employees; Food Production industry)
February 2005 — March 2008 (3 years 2 months)
Enhance and provide new business programs, marketing plans, sales analysis, entertainment scheduling and promotion. Establish employee standards, tasks guidelines and procedures. Designed Rebecca's Coffee House food and drink menu, encouraged management development skills and provided skilled barista training. Assisted in setting up contractors during the restaurant relocation including moving equipment, establishing state licenses’ and city approvals.
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Merchandising Director
The Johnny "V" Vernazza Band (Sole Proprietorship)
(Sole Proprietorship; 1-10 employees; Music industry)
January 2007 — March 2008 (1 year 3 months)
Worked directly with Johnny Vernazza to improve the sales of music product for The Johnny "V" Vernazza Band (www.johnnyv.net). Responsibilities included product sales, promotion and placement for shows, gigs and retail stores.
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Sales Operations Manager
Diamond Electronics
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Consumer Electronics industry)
March 2006 — June 2007 (1 year 4 months)
Presented new electronic product to Wal-Mart Canada, Wal-Mart.com, Staples, FirstStreet.com and Target.com accounts. Responsible for maintaining orders, customer service, product returns, warranty and service agreements and processing systems. Created and maintained weekly sales and inventory reports. Continued negotiations with return centers in the United States to process future returns, refurbished product, and re-sell old and current product. Developed logistic standards and inventory management systems by utilizing services provided by major shipping and freight companies.
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Sales/Marketing Manager
Advanced Marketing Services
(Public Company; 201-500 employees; Publishing industry)
April 2000 — January 2005 (4 years 10 months)
Sales and product manager for Calendar, Gift, Religious, Cookbook and Regional books for the SAM’s Club retail account. Managed product presentation, distribution, replenishment and promotion to the national account buying team. Responsibilities also included the management of Juvenile and Bargain product during the Holiday 2002 season. Recommended the book selection for all new and relocation SAM’s Clubs. Established as the primary contact person to AMS distribution centers to manage weekly deliveries and returns for all SAM’s Clubs. Reported weekly on sales, merchandising, inventory and returns for all title categories. Created and maintained a database to review individual clubs address, including sales history and regional membership information.
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Sales Analyst/Buyer Assistant
Trans World Entertainment, Inc.
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Retail industry)
January 1996 — March 2000 (4 years 3 months)
Responsibilities included weekly reporting and analysis of national and chain sales information provided by Nielsen, Soundscan/VideoScan. Creation and management of market share and store inventory databases to monitor sales, market share, genre benchmarks, and stock levels for weekly music and video sales by geographic region. Contacted major vendor and label representatives to purchase new release, discount product and open order tracking for the chain. Completed weekly sales reporting and maintenance of customer special orders. Monitored regional airplay information provided by Broadcast Data Systems, vendor shipments and return authorization requests.
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Store Manager
Toys R Us
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Retail industry)
February 1993 — August 1994 (1 year 7 months)
Senior manager for register point of sales, returns and customer service. Sales Floor merchandising manager for product positioning, endcaps and promotions. Coordinated contractors and tasks during a store re-model. Managed a staff of 12 employees on the third shift. Managed receiving of product shipments from the regional distribution center. Responsible for employee scheduling and training in Albany NY. Participated in management classes and on-the-job training during a store re-model in Poughkeepsie, NY. Successfully completed management training and promoted to store manager.
Thomas Blau’s Education
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Clemson University
BA , Language and International Trade , August 1988 — December 1992
Concentration in Spanish
- Activities and Societies:
- Delta Chi Social Fraternity
Additional Information
Thomas Blau’s Groups:
Delta Chi Social Fraternity
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Clemson University Alumni (3000+) -
Triangle X Alumni Network -
Toys"R"Us/Babies"R"Us Alumni
