Buyer BlackToe Running

About Us

BlackToe Running is Canada's leading run-specialty retailer, blending high quality running footwear, apparel and gear with community-driven experiences and a premium online presence.

The Opportunity - Toronto, ON (Full-Time)

BlackToe Running is looking for a Buyer to lead the day-to-day buying and continued development of our product assortment across footwear, apparel and accessories.

This is an important commercial and product role within BlackToe. The Buyer will have significant responsibility for product selection, seasonal buying, in-season decisions, assortment performance and helping determine where we invest our inventory dollars.

Working closely with BlackToe’s owners, you will combine strong product knowledge with sales data, customer insights and commercial analysis to help us answer some of our most important buying questions:

What should we carry? How much should we buy? Which products deserve greater investment? Where should we reduce our exposure? And how can we continuously improve our assortment?

You will have considerable autonomy over day-to-day buying and assortment decisions while partnering with ownership on major assortment, brand and inventory investment decisions.

Running footwear represents the largest part of our business, so a strong understanding of footwear, the running consumer and the broader athletic marketplace will be particularly valuable.

You will work closely with our Inventory Manager, Retail Operations, Marketing, Ownership and Brand Partners, bringing a strong product and commercial perspective to the business.

What You’ll Do

Buying & Assortment

• Lead the seasonal buying process across footwear, apparel and accessories.
• Develop seasonal assortments using sales history, market trends, customer insights, product knowledge and commercial analysis.
• Recommend product, model, colour and SKU selections within each category.
• Develop seasonal bookings and recommend appropriate buy quantities.
• Identify gaps and unnecessary duplication within our assortment.
• Evaluate new products and brands and recommend where BlackToe should invest.
• Balance proven core products with newness, innovation and emerging opportunities.
• Continuously evaluate SKU, brand and category productivity.
• Recommend where we should increase, reduce or exit inventory investments.
• Ensure the assortment reflects BlackToe’s performance-running positioning while serving runners across a broad range of abilities and needs.

Seasonal & In-Season Buying

• Lead the buying components of supplier seasonal line reviews.
• Manage supplier performance through Supplier Score Cards, and regular reporting on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). 
• Continuously drive supplier excellence, to ensure the Right Product is delivered On Cost, On Quality, and On Time.
• Manage day-to-day product and buying discussions with supplier sales and merchandising teams.
• Make in-season reorder and buying decisions within established plans and budgets.
• Identify winning products quickly and pursue additional inventory where appropriate.
• Identify underperforming products early and recommend corrective action.
• Identify opportunities related to product availability, allocations, markdown support and returns-to-vendor.
• Create Purchase Orders (P.O.s) and ensure buying decisions are accurately reflected in our systems.
• Partner closely with the Inventory Manager to address availability, inventory imbalances and emerging inventory risks.

BlackToe’s broader strategic relationships with our major brand partners extend beyond product purchasing. Overall brand relationships will continue to be led by ownership, with Marketing leading marketing partnerships and activation discussions within its area of responsibility.

Commercial Performance

Use data to continuously evaluate the performance of our buying and assortment decisions, including:

• Sales
• Gross margin
• Sell-through
• GMROI
• Inventory turns
• SKU productivity
• Brand and category productivity
• Markdown exposure
• Aged inventory

Develop regular product, brand and category performance reviews and communicate key findings, opportunities and risks to Ownership.

Use historical performance and forward-looking market information to improve future buying decisions.

Follow buying decisions through to results and adjust quickly when actual performance differs from expectations.

Product Expertise

The Buyer will be a key internal Subject Matter Expert on running footwear and apparel, product technology, category trends and the BlackToe assortment.

You will:

• Develop deep knowledge of the products within our assortment.
• Stay current on developments across running footwear and apparel, and the broader athletic marketplace.
• Attend supplier product presentations and previews.
• Understand how competing products compare and where each product fits within our assortment.
• Help identify important product stories and selling points.
• Contribute product expertise to staff training materials, shoe comparisons and product education.
• Partner with Retail Operations on Product Knowledge sessions and staff product training.
• Partner with Marketing on product launches and customer-facing product stories.
• Help ensure technical product information is accurate.
• Gather feedback from our store teams and customers and incorporate those insights into future buying decisions.

Retail Operations will continue to own staff training and Marketing will own customer-facing communications. The Buyer provides product and category expertise that helps inform both.

Decision-Making & Ownership

The Buyer will have significant responsibility for BlackToe’s assortment and buying decisions.

You will be expected to:

• Lead the seasonal buying process.
• Develop buying recommendations and clearly communicate the analysis and rationale behind them.
• Make day-to-day assortment, buying and in-season decisions within established plans and budgets.
• Identify emerging product opportunities and inventory risks.
• Challenge historical buying decisions when data, customer feedback or market changes support a different approach.
• Provide Ownership with clear recommendations on significant assortment and inventory investment decisions.
• Work collaboratively with Ownership on major strategic decisions, significant brand changes and larger inventory commitments.

The Buyer will have meaningful authority and responsibility for buying and assortment performance, while BlackToe’s Owners retain ultimate accountability for overall merchandising strategy and major commercial decisions.

What We’re Looking For

Ideally, you bring:

• 3+ years of relevant experience in buying, merchandising, category management or a related retail role.
• Experience with branded consumer products; footwear, sporting goods, apparel or athletic retail experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience selecting products and making or contributing to buying decisions.
• Strong understanding of retail metrics including sales, margin, sell-through, inventory turns and GMROI.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort working with SKU, brand and category-level data.
• The ability to combine data with product knowledge and commercial judgment.
• Experience working effectively with supplier sales and merchandising teams.
• Strong Excel skills and comfort with retail planning and reporting systems.
• Strong communication, organization and relationship-management skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across Inventory, Retail Operations, Marketing and Ownership.

Experience with Shopify and Inventory Planner is an asset but is not required.

Direct running-industry experience is an asset but not an absolute requirement. Genuine curiosity about technical footwear, product innovation and the running consumer is important.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means helping BlackToe:

• Make consistently strong product and buying decisions.
• Build a differentiated and productive assortment.
• Improve sales, margin and GMROI.
• Increase inventory productivity.
• Reduce unnecessary SKU duplication and aged inventory.
• React faster to winning and underperforming products.
• Improve product knowledge throughout the organization.
• Turn customer, staff and sales insights into better future buying decisions.

Compensation

Salary range: $70,000–$85,000, based on experience and qualifications, plus performance-based bonus.

BlackToe also offers a competitive benefits package, product discounts and the opportunity to play a significant role in shaping the assortment and continued growth of one of Canada’s leading independent run-specialty retailers.

To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to mike@blacktoerunning.com