Country Director
Prestige Supplies Cambodia
Total years of experience :28 years, 4 Months
Overseeing overall construction of the 25000sq/ft outlet
Store Layout and merchandising
Responsible for sourcing store management and staff
Initial product and range planning
SWOT analysis and BI
Dealing with local authorities in order to obtain necessary trading licenses
Setup up of Logistics
Business Development, expanding our field of operations
Complete Country operations
Overseeing Accounting and Financing.
Ensuring expense budgets are controlled
Monitoring of sales by department, categories and SKU's in order to maximize sales opportunities.
Meeting with high profile delegates and negotiating new business ventures
Day to day operational issues that arise.
February 2012 - Present:
Joined Prestige Supplies INC as Country Director for Cambodia Duty Free operations.
Location: Bavet City on the Vietnamese border, I am based in Phnom Penh Cambodia.
Responsibilities
• Overseeing the construction of our 30 000 sq/ft Duty free store
• Accepting the handover of the project from the contractors on behalf of the investors ensuring that every detail is completed as per design and general construction plan.
• Working closely with procurement on product assortment for our new store
• Dealing with government entities for obtaining necessary operating licenses
• Dealing with international brands and securing needed brands for our duty free store.
• Planning of the overall merchandising of the store and merchandising the store according to planned layouts.
• Planning the sales and marketing activity for the year and successfully implementing as planned.
• Hiring of all staff for the new store. Personally done each and every interview.
• Training of management and staff in all departments
• Setup the logistics department for forwarding all our cargo
• Compiling sales budgets and stock forecasting.
• Maintaining expenses in order to maximize profitability
• Building relationships with local customs and government officials.
• Developed our online shopping site
• Created channels to route stock into Vietnam
October 2008 - January 2012
Joined KM Trading Hypermarket & Department stores as Area Manager of Dubai.
Responsibilities
2009 December got promoted to Operations Manager of KM Trading Company in the UAE, helped the company grow from 17 to 30 stores within the borders of the UAE.
• Actively and effectively heading 30 stores, total retail space of more than 200 000sq/ft and annual turnover of more than $290, 000, 000.00 USD.
• Implementing Sales and Marketing strategy of the company
• Introducing new department to our stores and new stores
• Drafting and updating of company expense, sales budgets and stock forecasts
• Scouting suitable locations for opening new stores successfully negotiate contracts for new locations in order to reduce overhead expenses while satisfying the company and landlords requirements.
• Participate in overall shop planning and planning the merchandising layout of the stores in order to optimize sales and merchandising to maximize impulse purchasing.
• Successfully oversee the construction of new stores and working closely with the procurement department in order to ensure our store opening deadlines are met. (Never opened one store later than the deadlines I personally set)
• Setting up and implementing of company policies and strategies
• Heading management and staff in excess of 3000 employees.
• Helped with developing the training department of the company and personally trained staff during training sessions on topics such as: importance of customers, customer service, cleanliness and hygiene at work, merchandising strategies, etc.
• Conducting interviews at large scale for new store openings. Screening and interviewing more than 50 applicants per day.
Operations Shoprite Checkers North West division (2001-2008)
• Store refurbishments
• Transferring (IBT) and order of stock for refurbishment
• Overall inventory and shop security
• Facilitating and leading stock takes
• Shop planning, layout & design
• Staff management & scheduling and training
Operations Shoprite Checkers Angola (2000 - 2001)
• Opening of 2 new stores in Angola
• Closing 5 non profitable stores
• Stock controlling & ordering
• Staff management & scheduling
• Management and Staff training for new stores
• Cash control & management (including cashing up & daily banking up to $2m USD daily)
• Manage Account payables
• Manage in store promotional activities
• Merchandising & displays
• Managing budget & expenditure
Store Manager, Shoprite Checkers Group, Paarl /Wellington (1996- 2000)
• Branch administration
• Manage shrinkage & stock control
• Driving turnover
• Security control
• Store layout: Merchandising & displays
• Managing budget & expenditure, controlling costs
• Staffing & staff management
• Staff motivation
• Customer Service
Worked part time & travelled Africa (1994 - 1996)
• Shoprite Checkers Management Training Certificate (1998) • Highest Grade: Senior Certificate (Grade 12)
I worked for Shoprite Checkers the largest retail chain in Africa. Through them I did a Management Training certificate which is endorsed by UNISA. Completed that in 1998. This covers all aspects of Retail from the back door to the front door, Administrative, sales & marketing, store management, risk management, inventory management, planning of promotional activities.