Assistant Buyer, Footwear

Fleet Feet Sports; Carrboro (NC); Hybrid; USD 52,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Robust benefits

401(k) with 4% Company Match

Exclusive employee discounts

Professional development

Community engagement

Inspiring team culture

Job summary

Fleet Feet is seeking an Assistant Buyer, Footwear in a hybrid Carrboro, NC role. You will support seasonal footwear assortment planning, budgeting prep, and cross-functional coordination to meet sales, margin, and inventory goals.

You will partner with ecommerce and stores to ensure accurate product setup, launches, and alignment with corporate strategies. Strong Excel skills and retail buying experience are valued.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years merchandising, buying, planning, or retail experience preferred; footwear or sporting goods experience a plus.
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets and comfort working with reports and large data sets.
• High attention to detail and strong organizational skills; able to manage multiple tasks and seasonal calendars.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills; comfortable collaborating with cross-functional partners and vendors.
• Passion for Fleet Feet brand, running, fitness, and active lifestyles is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Assist in building seasonal footwear assortment plans by vendor, sub-category, and channel in alignment with financial targets and strategy.
• Support Senior Manager and Director in Open-to-Buy and budget prep materials, including market share recaps.
• Compile and maintain seasonal assortment packets with line plans, planograms, trend recaps, and buy summaries.
• Manage seasonal attributing within the system for each buy cycle.
• Partner with ecommerce teams to align assortments and launches with in-store strategies.
• Assist merchandising setup for digital platforms and ensure correct product representation.
• Pull and organize seasonal category reporting including historical trends and performance metrics.
• Support preseason buy entry by SKU and ensure data accuracy for order uploads.
• Provide assortment direction and allocation notes to Retail Inventory team for stores and franchises.
• Help develop preseason tools and resources for Franchise doors to align with Corporate strategies.
• Assist in testing merchandising tools, documenting processes, and training resources.
• Collaborate in cross-functional meetings to stay aligned on priorities and timelines.

Skills

Merchandising

Analytical skills

Communication

Attention to detail

Tools

Excel/Google Sheets

Job description

Our Company

We believeRunning Changes Everything. If you believe that, too, we want to talk. With more than 280 stores and a robust e-commerce site, Fleet Feet is the largest running retailer in the country. Catering to more than runners, we pride ourselves on having an inclusive environment! We believe it’s a privilege to serve and to deliver unmatched service and support when outfitting every customer. We run together to solve problems, reach goals, encourage others and champion our brand.

Overview

The Assistant Buyer, Footwear supports the execution of Fleet Feet’s footwear merchandising strategy across all channels. This role assists in building seasonal assortment plans, preparing reporting and analysis, and coordinating with cross-functional partners to ensure product is set up, ordered, and positioned to meet sales, margin, and inventory goals.

This is a hybrid position based in Carrboro, NC, with an expectation of working in the office three days per week. Candidates must currently live within commuting distance or be willing to relocate to the area.

Responsibilities

Assortment & Strategy Support

• Assist in building seasonal footwear assortment plans by vendor, sub-category, and channel in alignment with the department’s financial targets and strategic direction.
• Support the Senior Manager and Director in preparing materials for Open-to-Buy (OTB) and budget reviews, including vendor market share recaps and opportunities.
• Help compile and maintain seasonal assortment packets, including visual line plans, planograms, trend recaps, and seasonal buy summaries.
• Manage seasonal attributing within system each buy cycle.

Cross-Channel Merchandising & Ecommerce

• Partner with ecommerce partners to ensure assortments, product attributes, and launches align with in-store strategies and timelines.
• Assist in merchandising setup for digital platforms, ensuring products are correctly represented and ready for launch.

Reporting & Business Analysis

• Pull and organize seasonal category reporting, including:
  • Historical retail and ecommerce sales trends
  • Digital platform performance (dropship and in-store app)
  • Competitor and market research
  • Operator feedback (seasonal survey)
  • Price and gross profit recaps
• Support the preparation of vendor pre-line, preseason sell-in, and buy review analysis decks for internal and external meetings.

Preseason Buy & Order Book Support

• Assist Senior Manager with preseason buy entry by SKU, ensuring orders align with assortment strategy and vendor deadlines.
• Help validate data accuracy for order book uploads into Fleet Feet systems and flag discrepancies or gaps.
• Support the build-out and maintenance of the product lifecycle calendar (intro dates, MAP calendar, promotional timing).

Store & Franchise Support

• Assist in providing assortment direction and allocation notes to the Retail Inventory team, supporting door-level decisions and seasonal order book creation.
• Help develop preseason support tools and resources for Franchise doors to align local assortments with Corporate strategies.

Tools, Systems & Process Improvement

• Support enhancements to merchandising and planning tools by testing new features, providing feedback, and helping with simple documentation and training resources.
• Maintain organized records of seasonal assortments, recaps, and reports for easy access and future reference.

Collaboration & Team Support

• Participate in cross-functional meetings with Buying, Inventory, Digital, Marketing, and Stores to stay aligned on priorities and timelines.
• Provide day-to-day support to the Senior Manager, including meeting prep, recap notes, and follow-up actions with internal and external partners.

Measures of Success (Supported KPIs)

The Assistant Merchant contributes to team performance in the following areas (at the category/channel level):

• Sales vs. Plan
• Style productivity
• Color productivity
• Gross margin performance

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of merchandising, buying, planning, or retail experience preferred; internship or store experience in footwear or sporting goods a plus.
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets and comfort working with reports and large data sets.
• High attention to detail and strong organizational skills; able to manage multiple tasks and seasonal calendars.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills; comfortable collaborating with cross-functional partners and vendors.
• Passion for the Fleet Feet brand, running, fitness, and/or active lifestyles is strongly preferred.

Competencies

• Ownership & Follow-Through: Takes responsibility for assigned tasks and delivers against deadlines.
• Collaboration: Works effectively with teammates across departments and with vendor partners.
• Curiosity & Learning: Proactively seeks to understand the business, category trends, and the “why” behind results.
• Customer & Operator Focus: Considers both the end consumer and store operators when supporting assortment and merchandising decisions.

Benefits

• Robust benefits package including medical, dental, vision, FSA, HSA, EAP, and more
• 401(k) with 4% Company Match: Available to employees aged 21+ at company-owned stores.
• Exclusive Discounts: Enjoy savings on industry-leading products and specialized training programs.
• Professional Development: Grow your career through mentorship opportunities, employee resource groups, and ongoing learning sessions designed to help you reach your full potential.
• Community Engagement: Get involved in local outreach and service initiatives that align with our purpose-driven mission.
• Inspiring Team Culture: Join supportive, passionate teammates who live the mission every day.

• Benefits Summary: For full-time employees (30+ hours/week), check out our Fleet Feet benefits summary for details on healthcare, wellness, and more.

Equal Opportunity & Reasonable Accommodations

We are an equal opportunity employer and believe having teams in which everyone brings their whole self to Fleet Feet is key to our success. We encourage people of all backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives. Our dedication to inclusion is reflected in our hiring practices, workplace culture, and community engagement.

Fleet Feet utilizes E-Verify in all corporate and company-operated stores as part of the hiring process.

Full-Time