IN PRAISE OF A PRO

Julie O'Neill latest to be inducted into exclusive MVP of the Month club

Ask anyone at the Roots Head Office about Julie O'Neill, and you're sure to hear sincere superlatives from people who work with her. With her easy smile and even-keeled, extremely pleasant manner, Julie always brings a positive, team-oriented attitude to her job as Merchandise Manager in the Women's Department. Proactive with an unfailing sense of initiative, Julie never shies away from taking on new responsibilities.

But for all her attributes, Julie was selected this week as the latest Roots MVP of the Month for other reasons as well. In recent weeks, the results of her work have shown themselves in the particularly strong sales of the women's fall collection. Of course, others in the Women's wear also deserve credit. Jules Power, Senior Designer in Women's wear, plays a big part in this achievement having created the winning styles. Likewise Stephanie Briers (Graphic Artist), Nikki Kime (Senior Technician), and Yougin Lee (Technician) all are also important players in the process.

In the general scheme of things in the fashion business, design is relatively easy to understand and more celebrated. Not so the role Julie performs which is just as critical to the success of sales. At a company like Roots that is at once a major manufacturer and retailer, Julie's well-honed buying skills are vital. She's responsible for assortment planning – deciding on the right quantities to order for each style, colour and size – pricing and meeting gross margin targets to ensure profitability and growth in the women's wear department. No small task, especially given the number of products the women's wear department are producing each season. It's a tall order but Julie does it with brio and makes it look almost easy, season after season.
Hats off to Julie on this well-deserved honour.
• Next week, a full-length profile of Julie will be published in the MVP of the Month section (Behind the scenes - Team Roots) on the Roots website.