Yanni Karayannis is seeking a position that emphasizes customer experience and people development. He has over 15 years of retail experience in management roles with companies like Elite Cookies, New York & Co., Zales, Armani Exchange, and Guess. His experience includes streamlining wholesale operations, growing sales, achieving sales targets, reducing shrinkage, and developing talent. He holds Bachelor's degrees from Stony Brook University and is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Greek.

1. Yanni Karayannis
47-06 45th Street B4 516/383.7081
Woodside, NY 11377 yannikarayannis@yahoo.com
OBJECTIVE To replicate my previous success in a specialty retailer in an organization that
emphasizes customer experience. To utilize my talent for people development to ensure that the
team understands the importance of every aspect of the profitable operation of the business from
merchandising to loss prevention to appropriate cost control to overall customer experience
Wholesale Manager, Elite Cookies, Inc. | New York, NY
February 2013- current
 Streamline wholesale operations by geographic area and store volume.
 Recruit and train new account representatives.
 Reorganize wholesale order process
 Grew NYC market from 3 POS stores to over 200
Store Sales Leader, New York & Co. Outlet | DeerPark, NY
March 2012- February 2013
 Achieved sales positive to last year’s in spite of decrease to inventory levels and traffic.
 Finished #1 in district, #5 in brand #15 in company for December 2012 sales plan.
 Consistently performed double digit increase to ADS
 Increased Black Friday weekend business by 23%
 Recruited and trained 2 external support managers to focus on talent and product.
District Manager, Zales/ Piercing Pagoda | NYC Metro/Long Island
October 1999 - June 2005
August 2010 - November 2011
 Supervising 3rd highest volume district in brand.
 Managed stores through partnerships with real estate, loss prevention, marketing, human
resources (recruit & train), buying/merchandise allocations to ensure profitability.
 Raised district from #66 in the brand to #3 in first month as DM in terms of sales
performance.
 Coordinated new store openings in several high profile malls, including selection of
talent, leading merchandising of stores, establishing relationship with mall management
 Scouted locations for new stores.
 Highest increase to sales plan and contribution as a district in fiscal year 2011.
 Achieved sales plan every single month except for three months in 10 years of leadership.

2. Store Manager, Metropark | Bridgewater, NJ
November 2008 - August 2010
 Developed support management to recruit appropriately for team using various methods.
 Ensured visual presentation of store and developed support management to manage their
department through sell through, markdowns, RTVs, etc.
 Developed style consultants to management, and developing their recruiting and training
skills, as well as operational knowledge.
 Hired team and developed management to recruit talent that reflected the diverse style of
the brand.
 Store achieved 3rd highest conversion in the brand.
Associate Manager, Armani Exchange | Manhattan, NY
April 2007 - October 2008
 Managed human resources division of responsibility in the flagship store.
 Developed training program that focused on customer experience & catering to tourists
 Supervised sales floor that operated with up to 30 people at peak times.
 Participated in floorsets in the model store from which planagrams were made.
 Responsible for several arrests due to increased loss prevention awareness.
 Achieved personal sales goal every single week during tenure
 Created mentorship program which divided development of associates into teams
Store Manager, Guess? | Brooklyn, NY
January 2006-January 2007
 Managed challenging store due to demographic, high volume & limited square footage.
 Reduced shrink from 12 % to 2%
 Sales up approximately 20 % to LY by building customer experience emphasis.
 Recruited and hired a team that reflected both the ethnic diversity of store’s customer
demographic as well as the various lifestyles that were merchandised in the store.
EDUCATION
BA, French Language and Literature & Hispanic Language and Literature, December 2012
Stony Brook University | Stony Brook, NY
BA, History, December 2001
Stony Brook University | Stony Brook, NY
LANGUAGES
Fluent Oral/Written
 English, French, Spanish & Greek
Conversational Oral/Written
 Italian