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At Hibbett, merchandising is at the center of everything we do. We're looking for an experienced Buyer or Senior Buyer to help shape the products our customers see every day across our nationwide store footprint.
This role is ideal for someone with experience buying athletic footwear, athletic apparel, accessories, or closely related retail categories. You'll own your business from strategy through execution, developing assortments, partnering with leading brands, analyzing performance, and making data-driven decisions that directly impact sales, margin, inventory productivity, and the customer experience.
Please Note: This is an onsite position based at Hibbett Headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. Relocation assistance is available for qualified candidates.
What You'll Own
As a Buyer or Senior Buyer, you'll be responsible for the complete lifecycle of your assigned categories.
Merchandising Strategy
- Develop and execute merchandising strategies that drive sales, margin, inventory turn, and GMROI.
- Build seasonal assortments that reflect customer demand, market trends, and business objectives.
- Identify opportunities through sales analysis, customer insights, competitive shopping, and trend forecasting.
- Recommend new products, categories, vendors, and growth opportunities.
Vendor Partnerships
- Build strong relationships with national and emerging brands.
- Negotiate product assortments, pricing, promotional opportunities, shipping terms, and profitability.
- Attend vendor meetings, trade shows, and market appointments to identify new products and trends.
- Partner with vendors to maximize category performance and customer relevance.
Financial Ownership
Own financial performance for assigned categories, including:
- Sales
- Gross Margin
- Inventory Turn
- GMROI
Develop sales forecasts and inventory plans.
Execute pricing and markdown strategies that optimize profitability while maintaining healthy inventory.
Monitor purchase orders, receipts, inventory flow, and product availability.
Cross-Functional Partnership
You'll collaborate closely with:
- Assortment Planning
- Allocation
- Marketing
- Store Operations
- Merchandise Leadership
- Field Leadership
Together you'll ensure every store has the right product, in the right quantity, at the right time.
Leadership
Senior Buyers are expected to mentor and develop junior merchants while sharing best practices and helping elevate the overall merchandising organization.
What We're Looking For
Buyer
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
- 5+ years of retail buying or merchandising experience.
- Experience managing product assortments and vendor relationships.
- Strong analytical, financial, and negotiation skills.
- Ability to analyze sales, inventory, and consumer trends to make business decisions.
Senior Buyer
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
- 7+ years of progressive retail buying or merchandising experience.
- Demonstrated success managing larger or more complex categories.
- Experience developing merchandising strategies that consistently drive business results.
- Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and mentor merchandising professionals.
Preferred Experience
We're specifically interested in candidates with buying or merchandising experience in categories similar to Hibbett's business, including:
- Athletic Footwear
- Athletic Apparel
- Team Sports
- Athletic Accessories
- Lifestyle Footwear
- Licensed Apparel
Experience working with nationally recognized brands is highly preferred.
What Makes You Successful
The ideal candidate is:
- Customer focused
- Trend driven
- Highly analytical
- Financially minded
- Collaborative
- Decisive
- Comfortable making data-driven decisions
- Passionate about retail merchandising
Additional Information
- Travel up to 25% for vendor meetings, trade shows, market appointments, and store visits.
- No direct supervisory responsibilities; however, mentoring and coaching junior merchandising associates is expected.
Why Hibbett?
At Hibbett, your work has a direct impact on the customer experience and business performance. You'll own meaningful categories, build relationships with leading brands, collaborate with talented teams across the business, and influence merchandising decisions seen by customers nationwide.
If you're ready to take ownership of a category and help shape what's next for Hibbett, we'd love to hear from you.
Hibbett's Privacy Policy
Candidates will have an option during the application process to withdraw their application prior to completion of the application. Throughout this online job application process, you will be asked to provide personal information about yourself. Please review Hibbett’s Privacy Policy to understand how the information you provide will be utilized and safeguarded.
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