First Day at Neiman Marcus: Intimate Apparel

I got to the Neiman Marcus building at 8:45 and met with the HR Jodi Kahn. She then dropped me to the intimate apparel buying department where I worked with the buyer, Wendi, and her coordinators. As soon as I walked into that office I was told to observe how the Monday Sales Reports were done and then asked to do some. The Monday Reports are the whole weeks sales and they basically tell how much of each item was sold in that particularly department so the buyer of that department can see what they need to do with that style and brand. I learned that for any style as long as they had over a 2% increase in that particular style then the stores did well. While I was doing that I was told that we are supposed to go to the other Neiman Marcus building on Main St. to look at the presentation and go through a virtual tour for the new Neiman Marcus that is going to open in Walnut Creek, California which is a very affluent area. It was pretty interesting to sit in the marketing meeting because they were talking about how they need to outbeat their competition, Nordstroms, in Walnut Creek. They also talked about what kind of customers they want to attract. They are going to try to target 40 year old women with kids who love to buy denim, handbags, shoes, dresses, and clothes for their kids. Their other target is older women who are empty nesters who have nothing but time and like to attend black tie events. Then after that meeting was over we went in another room to go through the virtual tour of Neimans they are opening up and how the furniture/decor/architecture will attract the affluent crowd of Walnut Creek. After the presentations we went back to the offices I kept working on my Monday Reports. After I finished that I sat with with Wendi as she was doing her buying for Wacoal, and Chantelle bras and underwear. She told me that she goes through all the styles they sell for those companies and sees which stores sell the most. Northpark and LA are the two best Neiman locations for intimate apparell so they get a lot of stock. She places the orders based on old numbers. After I watched her do that I went to another coordinator Erin and she taught me the formula they use to get the cost of an item from a vendor and was working on the employ discount sale. The employees get 30/30 a couple times a season which is basically like the vendor gives 30% off and then Neimans gives another 30% off the item so it is basically like 60% off an item which is a really good deal! The las thing I did was listen in on a conference call with Wacoal Intimate Apparel and Wendi was talking to the vendor about which styles she wants to markdown on that company and had a couple of concerns with their products. They got in a little arguement and the conversation seemed tense but they still worked with each other and got it all figured out. After that I left and it was 5:40. I had a really long day and I feel very tired but overall I really enjoyed my day. I will be working with a lady named Nancy tomorrow and she is Wendi's boss.