SCOTT A SHORT114 CHELTENHAM DR.

NORMAL, IL 61761217 417 2175

Scottshort1969@yahoo.com

QUALIFICATIONS

Proven track record of continued growth both in retail and wholesale furniture business Extensive experience in assisting retailers with marketing and advertising Successfully managed and maintained large customer base Effective sales trainer for new retail operations Recognized 8 years in a row for sales growth within customer base Opened 20 new accounts within a number of markets in 4 year period Experience in helping retailers maintain back end operations Strong communicator of ideas Proficient in use of Ashley Direct, Word, Excel, PowerPoint

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

ROOMS DIRECT Furniture, BLOOMINGTON, IL JUNE 2010-PresentGeneral Manager

Run all day to day operations for 2.7M furniture storeDeveloped and organized all backend systems and customer service programsAll hiring and training of staffGreatly improved customer satisfaction on back end operations of businessManaged all aspects of the front end of operation including: Buying, reordering, sales metrics, floor maintenance, etc

FAIRMONT DESIGN/GUILDCRAFT OF CALIFORNIA, ILLINOIS/MO JULY 2009-JUNE 2010

SALES

All marketing and sales in 2 statesOpened 6 new accounts including one major (Weekends Only)

SPRING AIR MATTRESS COMPANY, COLUMBUS, OH JULY 2008-MAY 2009

SALES

Account Management and GrowthAssisted in organizing first regional mattress show for company in MidwestIncreased sales volume by 10% within first 90 days

ASHLEY FURNITURE INDUSTRIES INC., Arcadia, Wisconsin FEB 2000-JAN 2008Senior Marketing Specialist 2003-2008Maintained account base of anywhere from 120-280 accountsWorked closely with large number of retailers in all aspects of retail, including advertising, floor design, back room operations and sales trainingAverage growth within territory at 15% per yearAchieved 24M in sales in Chicago Market and increased downstate Illinois sales to 5.2M

SCOTT A SHORT

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Participated and supervised the opening of 8 Ashley Furniture HomestoresEstablished continuous training program for retail sales associates within HomeStore networkAssisted in one of the most successful marketing campaigns in Midwest, resulting in 1.3 million circulars, 1500 radio spots, 2000 TV spots and 20k direct mailers for furniture retailers across state of Illinois

ASSOCIATE MARKETING SPECIALIST 2000-2003

Took over territory with only 400k in annual sales and only 50 accounts and increased to 1.6M in sales with 90 accounts in less than 2 years resulting in the only sales increase for team.Established first Central Illinois Ashley Furniture Homestore in Peoria, IL.

ALL ABOUT KIDS FURNITURE, CHAMPAIGN, IL 1998-2000

OWNERTook small loan from family and friends and established small retail operation.All day to day operations for maintaining furniture retail storeIncluded: buying, selling, floor design, advertising, delivery and bookkeeping

THIS IS IT FURNITURE/DIRECT FACTORY OUTLET, CHAMPAIGN AND BLOOMINGTON, IL    1987-1998

STORE MANAGER

Responsible for every aspect of day to day operations including but not limited to-Sales, floor design, delivery, buying and sales training of various sized sales staff

Assisted in opening of stores in Danville, Peoria, Bloomington and Springfield

EDUCATION

2 years Business Management-Parkland College Champaign, ILHigh School Diploma Chicago, IL

REFERENCES:

GEOFF WEED ASHLEY FURNITUREDAVID NAMOFF OWNER ROOMS DIRECT FURNITURE BLOOMINGTON, ILPEIRRE SERAFIN OWNER UFS PEORIA, IL

MORE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.