Kenneth Lee Helms has over 20 years of experience as a retail store manager and director, primarily in the beauty, accessories, and apparel industries. He has a proven track record of consistently exceeding sales goals and improving business performance by developing talented employee teams. Currently, Helms is the Store Manager of the Coach Men's store in Leesburg, VA, a $3 million business.

1. Kenneth Lee Helms
21149 Parc Dulles Square Apt 343
Sterling VA 20166
703-389-3580__________________________________________________________________________________________________
COACH-Leesburg VA 2011-present
Store Manager
Opened the Coach Men’s Factory store in 2012 at Leesburg Premium Outlets, now a $3m business.
Hired my team of Managers and associates, merchandised the store and trained the staff. This team
consist of 6 Asian Mandarin speaking associates and 3 Spanish associates as this store is 27%
International tourists, 22% of that is Chinese. The original team is still intact. Responsibilities
include driving the sales in the building by coaching to the metrics and company goals while
continually training on salesmanship, product and visual merchandising. Maintaining high standards
and a healthy work environment where associates are empowered to excel is my own management
style. Exceeded my sales goal the first year and delivered a shrink goal well within the company
metric. Awarded Brand Ambassador for the District in 2014. I began my career in 2011 at the
COACH Women’s store at Leesburg, a $20m dollar door, as an Associate Manager. I was promoted to
open the Men’s store in 2012.
Sephora-Tysons Corner-Mclean VA 2004-2011
Director
Promoted to Tysons 4th
Quarter in 2008. Highest volume store in the DC/VA/MD district. This store
produced $8.1m in 2010, moving it to the highest volume store in the Mid-Atlantic Region and is
trending to do $9.2m in 2011. Sales in 2008 were $7m. Responsible for delivering exceptional profit
and turnover results, falling below the company goals and among the lowest in the region for the
second year. Managed payroll to budget, operational compliance to company goal while driving
sales, client service and developing talent to move throughout the organization. Promoted two Store
Directors, two Specialist, three Leads, and one Sephora Pro-Team Member to a role in Education with
Sephora. Maintained and developed an exceptionally talented team while maintaining standards
considered among the highest in the region. Training Store Director and Star Council Member.
Sephora-Georgetown-Washington, DC-Store Director
Responsible for driving a business of $6.5 in 2007, a 4% increase to budget and 11% comp increase.
Maintained a team at 36% turnover for the second consecutive year to a company goal of 44%, and
best performance among the DC/VA/MD district. The turnover in this store was 114% in 2005 when
I took over. Managed payroll at .01% to budget. Achieved the highest accuracy rating in the District
for projecting payroll spending. Fully accountable for executing the directives of the organization in
Client Service, Brand Partner relationships, Operational compliance and performance, Loss
Prevention and received impressive statistical marks and District recognition. Awarded “Respect for
All” at the 2007 National Store Directors Conference out of 150+ stores. Certified in Managing for
Results and Voted VIP-Mid Atlantic Region 2005 and 2006. Selected to be a Training Store Director,
responsible for mentoring new management into the business. Promoted after 6 months at the
Richmond VA Sephora location to Georgetown in Washington. Recognized for developing
Leadership for the organization.
Garden Ridge-Richmond VA 2002-2004
Assistant General Manager
Managed a team of 100+ in a 140k square foot door with sales in excess of $14 million in 2003.
Directly responsible for the Receiving and Freight Flow Managers. Managed the highest volume
departments in the store which included Seasonal and Floral. Recruited and trained a strong team of
Department Leads in a location that was difficult to staff. Promoted/relocated to this location from
the Garden Ridge in Pineville, NC where I held the position of Receiving Manager.
Leather Limited-Concord NC 2001-2002

2. Store Manager-Opened, hired, trained for this new specialty store in a new market.
Kohl’s-Matthews, NC 1999-2001
Matthews, NC
Assistant Store Manager
Responsible for the entire apparel and accessory business with assets exceeding $11.5 million in
2000, a 12% comp increase to 1999. Communicate and execute monthly corporate directives.
Significant Human Resources responsibilities to include hiring, training and developing this team.
Awarded #1 in Merchandising for the District in 2000 among my peers.
Sunglass Hut International-Charlotte NC 1997-1999
Model Store Manager-Group Manager for the three highest volume stores in the Charlotte market.
Uptons-Charlotte NC 1995-1997
Area Sales Manager-Men’s, Children’s, Accessories
Dillard’s-Charlotte NC 1990-1995
Area Sales Manager-Home Store, juniors and Children’s
Grainger Senior High School-Charlotte NC Graduate
Broward College-Fort Lauderdale FL Associates Degree
References-Available Upon Request