Meet The Team – James Lees – Merchandiser

In this instalment of the ‘Meet the Team’ series, we’re meeting with James Lees.  James is one of three merchandisers here at Abingdon.  These guys travel with country, building and installing our POS units into our network of retailers showrooms.  They ensure our customers showrooms look amazing and they help showcase our products to its visitors.  Here is what James has to say about his role at Abingdon.

What is your role, and how long have you worked for Abingdon Flooring?

Merchandiser, 2 years and 7 months – 3 years in July

What does a typical day entail as Merchandiser?

A typical day involves building and dressing Abingdon’s range of POS units.  It can vary from building lecterns, assembling our floor standing displays to dressing and branding the units to suit the range.

Once our units are built they are then loaded into our vans ready for us to deliver and install the units into our customers showrooms.  I could be anywhere in the country as the team cover the whole of the U.K.

We are also responsible for fitting our exhibition stands with our POS.  The Flooring Show in September our main showcase, we attend the build up and breakdown on the stands.  It’s exciting to see the exhibition stands and see how we present our products to our trade customers.

What are your recommendations to anyone looking to start a career Merchandising?

Make sure you like meeting people and are social, good teams are crucial for the job and getting along with people is what makes the job so enjoyable.  We get to meet lots of customers when we are installing their orders and it’s important that we get to know them to ensure their showrooms look the best they can.

What’s the best aspect being merchandise coordinator?

Going out and meeting new people frequently, revisiting shops that you’ve become acquaintances with and getting to know retailers/customers – it’s a very social job.

Favorite Abingdon collection and why?

Wild silk, Its a lovely carpet, it’s very soft yet hardwearing and very nice to the touch (silky)