Thomas Collins247 Sumac Trail, Woodstock, GA 30188

Cell: 770- 598-7016 tomcollins70@comcast.net

Professional Summary

Seasoned convenience store leader in the petroleum and convenience retailing industry holding a variety of positions such as, Category Manager (all categories), Associate Category Manager (Dispensed Beverage & Packaged Beverages), Pricebook Administrator, Senior Manager Fuel Store Operations, Compliance Consultant, Change Coach and General Store Manager.

Core Qualifications

• Over 20 years Convenience industry • Visual Merchandising• Category Management • Process Implementation• Contract Negotiation • Team Building• Business Development • Analytical• Budgeting • Microsoft Office / PDI• Marketing Plans • Managing Expenses

Experience

The Home Depot – Atlanta, GA July 2007- March 2016

Category Manager (all categories) Convenience Fuel Stores November 2011 – Mar 2016I was responsible for all merchandising activities for all categories inside the Home Depot Convenience Fuel Stores to include but not limited to; Brand Image, Budgeting, Marketing, Advertising, Contract Negotiations, Vendor Relations, Pricing, Signage Programs, Product Selection, Innovation and Maintaining the highest levels of Visual Merchandising.

During this time total C-store sales increased by 22.3% and margin rate improved by an overall 100bps. My strongest category growth was in:

o Food Service 233%, o Other Tobacco 84%, o Rollergrill 54%, o Salty Snacks 51%, o Cold Dispensed Beverages 41%, o Beer 40%, o Candy 30%, o Packaged Beverages 25%, o General Merchandise 15%,o Hot Dispensed Beverages 10% o Cigarettes 8%.

I led several initiatives during this time to improve store layout and flow as well as improve displays, promotional activities and product adjacencies.

Senior Manager Convenience Fuel Store Operations June 2010 to Nov 2011 Responsible for daily Fuel Store Operations for the company's Convenience Fuel Stores, to include;

o Customer service, o Appearance & cleanliness, o Store reporting, o Fuel supplier management, o Maintenance management, o Full P&L accountability,o Budgeting and team development,o I also work closely with the Category Manager to ensure execution of merchandising deliverables.

During this time I also developed a comprehensive store walk and store inspection process to ensure that our stores were meeting the highest standards at all times, with a focus on customer service, food & beverage quality & safety, general safety and visual merchandising.

Reduced payroll by 20% and improved overall store performance. Reduced maintenance spend by 5%, by instituting several key maintenance contracts to simply and improve maintenance

service to the company’s Fuel Stores.

Associate Category Manager May 2008 to June 2010 Responsible for managing the Price book using PDI RMS. Responsible for the monthly Promotional Calendar. Reduced promotional signage expenses by 30% Coordinated store resets and plan-o-grams Associate Category Manager for Dispensed Beverages

o I made changes and improvements to our water filter program for Dispensed Beverages, improving water quality while bringing a cost savings of $1k per store per year.

o Increased Cold Dispensed Sales by 10% and margin by 50bps through product offering refresho Initiated a preventative maintenance program for our equipment.o Increased Hot Dispensed Sales by 8% and margin rate by 100bps.

Accomplished this through training program refresh and reimaging existing equipment. Negotiated a change in our coffee supplier.

Fuel Store Manager July 2007 to May 2008 Responsible for complete store operations for my assigned Fuel Store(s), including customer service, safety, cash &

inventory control, team building & coaching, managing a team of 8-10 associates per location. During the first 4 months in this position I managed 2 locations that were approximately 100 miles apart.

Mountain Express Oil – Woodstock, GA March 2007 to June 2007

District Manager Responsible for all store operations and category management of 4-6 company operated stores (directly managed 20-30

associates), as well as a consultant to 8-12 dealer operated stores.

BP Products North America Inc. – Atlanta, GA April 1999 – August 2006

Compliance Consultant April 2003 to August 2006 I was responsible for completing unannounced store inspections on all aspects of store operations, providing on-site

coaching & training, identifying market & district trends along with recommendations for improving performance at store, district & corporate levels. I managed a team of 4 other consultants across 8 major metro markets in the eastern US.

Change Coach May 2001 to April 2003 I traveled to several markets coaching my assigned stores on the new change management program, ensuring that our

new processes were implemented, understood and were sustainable.

General Store Manager April 1999 to May 2001 As a General Manager I played an intricate role in developing, testing and refining a number of initiatives to improve

customer service and store productivity.

Lil' Champ- Pantry Inc. – Orlando, FL March 1993 to April 1999

District Manager Held position of Store Manager for 2 years, then promoted to District Manager overseeing the operations for 10-12

company operated locations (managing a team of 50-70 associates).

Circle K Corporation – Orlando, FL September 1988 to March 1993

Store Manager Started in September 1988 as a sales associate, was promoted to Assistant Manager December 1988, then to Store

Manager September 1989.

Education

Milton High School Business Management, Diploma

Professional Affiliations

Member, National Association of Convenience Stores (2008-2015)Member, Georgia Association of Convenience Stores (2008-2015)