Workshop Description:           

Managing Your Retail Inventory for Optimum Profitability

October 1, 2008, 8 am to 9:30 am

Don’t be stuck with inventory that is shop worn or out of style. Learn to maximize the profitability of your retail business without a degree in mathematics. This workshop offers some simple tools to help retailers improve their bottom line by developing a stock flow plan. The discussion will include a review of basic retail math concepts such as inventory turns, stock to sales ratios, margins, and cost of goods sold. Presented by Stella Downie.

 

Stella Downie, Bio:
Stella Downie is the founder of Stellabella Toys in Inman Square, Cambridge. She opened the store in 1999 in an effort to bring together her background in economics and community organizing with her love for toys and her new role as a mother. During Stella's tenure, the store received the "Best of Boston" award four times and was named one of the top 10 toy stores in America by Child Magazine. Ms. Downie successfully sold the business in 2006.

Stella has also worked closely with the Center for Teen Empowerment before, during and after her years at Stellabella Toys. At Teen Empowerment she helped to adapt the organization’s model to the public school setting, assisted in the development of  the Center’s consulting and training business, and contributed significantly to Teen Empowerment’s group facilitation book, Moving Beyond Icebreakers.

Stella currently works as a consultant, specializing in strategic planning and meeting facilitation for non-profits, arts organizations, and small businesses. Stella is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, with a degree in Economics and Environmental Studies. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with her husband and three children.