James F. Geraci has over 25 years of experience in retail merchandise management. He has held various roles such as Category Manager, Director of Merchandise/Planning, General Merchandise Manager, and Senior Buyer. In these roles, he has improved sales, margins, and efficiencies. Currently, he is the Category Manager at City Sports overseeing $25M in sales and 6 departments.

1. JAMES F. GERACI
75 Ocean View St.● Winthrop MA 02152 ● Phone: 617-539-0076 ● jgeraci81@yahoo.com
PROFILE
Results oriented, experienced Director of Merchandise with a proven history of improving sales, gross margin and overall category
efficiencies. Superior analytical ability; strong organizational skills and capacity to efficiently manage multiple teams in a fast paced
environment.
Experience Over 25 years in the Retail Merchandise field with a proven track record of success and promotion through
driving results in the areas of Buying, Planning, and General Merchandise Management
Management Skills Redefined the entire buying strategy by coaching and mentoring buying/allocating teams creating a more
cohesive merchandising group and driving sales
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
City Sports, Boston, MA
Category Manager Equipment 2012-present
 Oversee 25 departments for $25M in sales, maintain margin, reduce inventory, and follow open to buy plans, projected sales.
 Responsible for buying 6 departments, electronics, swim, hydration, running, cycling and yoga $9M in sales
 Responsibilities include working with marketing, visual and store operations to maximize productivity and sales
 Worked with vendor to secure better terms, discounts and coop money.
 Managed 2 buyer in day to day buying, training, negotiations,range selection, strategies and OTB
 Worked with planning team and allocation team to insure that we were on plan and that the stores had the right product at the
right time.
Director of Merchandise/Planning 2010 -2012
 Oversaw receiving and sales budgets and inventory levels for all categories of the Buying team; worked with buyers and
vendors to plan assortments and style counts
 Worked directly with the CFO and EVP of Merchandise to provide insight and analysis of performance to plan
 Managed all aspects offorecasting, planning, productivity, margin performance and allocation analysis of merchandise
 Organized post-season performance reviews to budget; planned new store allocation and sales strategy by department
 Led vendornegotiation agreement summit; required working with EVP of Merchandise and CFO on corporate strategies,
negotiated agreements with vendors regional and national sales managers to create strongermore profitable relationships
 Realigned allocation strategies to segment store groupings and maximize inventory distribution to increase gross margin and
turns
General Merchandise Manager, Boston, MA 2008-2010
 Promoted to GMM by CEO due to extensive experience, management ability and substantialpositive results in the Equipment
Division
 Implemented changes from Equipment Division to reshape structure of buying processes
 Oversaw team of 10 employees in buying, planning and allocation and created new processes to increase efficiencies
 Reduced overall company range by hundreds of styles across all areas up to 60% of total assortments
 Formulated a structured markdown strategy for betterprocesses for the planning department, also creating a more efficient
procedure for the store management
 Reduced aged inventory from 13% of overall inventory to 5% of overall inventory while lowering overall inventory levels
Category Manager, Wilmington, MA 2006 - 2008
 Reshaped entire Equipment Division through new processes, buyer training, vendor negotiations , allocation strategies and
strict assortment plans
 Reduced overall inventory by 50% while increasing sales over 25% through vendor reductions and markdown strategies
 Managed and trained 2 buyers to become a strongermore profitable Division for the Corporation

2. Decathlon, Wilmington, MA
US Brand Manager 1999-2006
 Managed all facets of the US Team Sports Merchandise: buying, planning, vendor relationships, store personnel training and
range selection for a full head to toe assortment accounting for $50M in overall sales.
 Developed US Teams Sports strategy as part of a worldwide leadership team; attended biannual corporate strategy sessions
 Integral team member of cross functional group in producing private label US Team Sport products for worldwide distribution
 Selected by CEO and Leadership to be part of an Executive Committee to help the organization increase sales and profit
margins, customer service, and reduce inventory at the store level
MVP Sports, Wilmington, MA
Senior Buyer 1993-1999
 Managed purchasing and movement of inventory for 20 store chain in New England area accountable for over $20M in sales
Revenue, 20% of total company sales
 Increased margins, lowered inventory, increased turns and consolidated vendor and product selection o n a yearly basis to
maximize profits
 Trained new buyers on merchandise selection, margin, inventory control and vendor negotiations
Boston Bruins Professional Sports Shop, Boston, MA
General Manager 1990-1993
 Managed overall operations of the store including employee management, buying, and product development/design
 Employed 25+ employees in a $3-4M store with major shifts in business due to events
 Worked with Bruins and Celtics front office to help with team orders/printing as needed
EDUCATION AND PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
University of Massachusetts,Boston,MA
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Major: Management
Former President of East Boston Athletic Board, member for past 25+ years
Program Director of Salesian Boys and Girls Club, East Boston, MA 1996-2005