CHRISTOPHER C. MASSIE
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration | Certified Sommelier
420 Cola Ballena #B | Alameda, CA 94501 ~ 510.749.0325 ~ chambertin@sbcglobal.net
~ www.linkedin.com/in/christophermassie ~
Qualifications Summary
- Proven sales and acquisitions professional with a proactive approach to wine buying and an established track record of excellence in the fields of retail sales; conventional as well as advanced marketing communications and advertising tactics; brand development; and progressive fine wine sourcing via secondary markets.
- Adept at maximizing sales team performance via traditional as well as progressive marketing and merchandising methods.
- Specialized in the implementation of sensitive sales forecasting towards producing exponential growth in revenue.
- Established track record in developing sales incentive programs that motivate teams, expand brand awareness, and reward sales-team partners.
- Proactive sales and leadership style most recently produced sales growth of 56% in 2006 and 20% in 2007, realizing millions in annual sales revenue growth.
- Entrepreneurial vision resulted in first year sales of $1 million for upstart European import wine company, which expanded to year 5 results of more than $8 million in sales.
Professional Experience
JJ BUCKLEY FINE WINES, Oakland, California Present
~ Fine Wine Buyer | France and Italy
Responsibilities for this Inc.500|5000-Rated online fine wine retailer include:
- Performing extensive critical quantitative analysis towards securing effective value in an inventory spanning more than 5,000 SKUs and over 1,000 producers / estates / Domains.
- Negotiating with California-based wholesalers and importers to institute motivational patterns that secure primary representation positioning and / or a cost beneficial status vis-à-vis the industry.
- Spearheading discussions with European-based wine agents ascertaining opportunities in the secondary markets for procurement across myriad regions in France and Italy.
- Coordinating staff training and pre-acquisition tastings for a cross functional team of more than a dozen sales professionals.
- Securing tier-one-rated estate selections, exponentially expanding inventory offers in key industry segments to include Burgundy (Chablis, Cote d’Or, Maconnais and Chalonnaise), the Rhone Valley (North and South), Champagne, Alsace, Piedmonte, Tuscany, as well as numerous other European wine regions.
- Establishing nationally recognized, superior pricing for an extensive client base of highly affluent consumers.
CENTRAL MARKET – HEB, Dallas, Texas 2011
~ Wine and Beer Manager/Buyer
Responsible for the selecting and managing of more than 3,500 SKUs and more than 50,000 bottles (per store – currently 8 stores in division) for Central Market Division of HEB, a multi-unit, multi-billion dollar company.
- Hands-on management of individual wine departments that gross up to 10 million annually.
- Leading cross functional teams towards implementing corporate sales and merchandising goals.
- Managing Corporate Sales Reports, Profit and Loss Calculations, Forecasting, Departmental Cost Controls (staff, margins, waste, etc), Employee Scheduling, Staffing, and Monthly Planners.
- Maintaining corporate goals as related to Corporate Image, Community Involvement, Margin on Sales, Profitability and Branding.
- Hands-on sales to clientele with vinous tastes and experience ranging from novice to oenophile.
- Integrating traditional and progressive marketing tactics that include social and on-line media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), blogging, e*mail campaigns as well as corporate newsletters.
- Hosting wine seminars, staff training seminars and monthly special events to boost sales and increase margins.
BORDEAUX DIRECTE ET PLUS | WINE BROKERS, Dallas, Texas 2009 to 2011
~ Sales Manager and Product Buyer, Imported Wine Division
Oversaw sales management functions for the distribution of naturally produced, terroir-driven wines of Bordeaux and non-mainstream viticultural regions of Europe by leading functional teams in new product development, the establishing of product parameters (concept, price, and packaging), and the development of marketing plans as well as the forecasting of volume and growth.
- Developed critical relationships with key producers through social media resulting in exclusive distribution rights across product offerings within specified markets.
- Recommended product offerings to tier-1 and secondary level distributors along with marketing programs based on consumer, customer and competitive trend analysis aligned with profit targets.
- Conducted quantitative analysis utilizing a variety of sources; shipment data, consumption information, competitive performance. Tracked business results versus budget to understand business drivers.
- Implemented trade and consumer promotions, point of purchase and public relations. Presented marketing strategies to leadership team for review.
- Built business model to enhance brand stature including advertising and public relations. Served as key point of contact to develop proprietary programs.
- Oversaw marketing concept methods that increased sales revenue and developed brand awareness.
CHRISTOPHERS WINE WAREHOUSE, Houston, Texas 1997 – 2009
~ Proprietor/Buyer/CEO
Developed business plan, secured funding, and successfully launched boutique wine-only shop with $1+ million in annual sales revenue within first year.
- Spearheaded the buying of unique product offerings through key relationship with known industry experts across distributors, importers, brokers and account executives (domestic and international).
- Boosted sales growth 56% in 2006 and 20% in 2007 realizing millions in annual sales revenue growth.
- Led day-to-day store operations providing sales leadership team weekly status reports on revenue, issues and new initiatives.
- Implemented industry leading eCommerce module to operations ca 2000 – including weekly email offers and website shopping functionality – increasing sales exponentially within first quarter of launch.
- Reduced operational expenses by eliminating marketing footprint with electronic solution to proprietary customer list.
- Developed additional intuitive eCommere websites, leveraging consumer behavior and website analytics, to promote products and promotions by segment. Branding and back-end functionality are now incorporated by myriad on-line wine retailers.
- Integrated social networking component to expand market share and brand awareness. (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.com, Wine blogs, etc.)
- Utilized Interspire software for shopping cart solution, expanding customer behavior metric availability through customized application reporting.
EUROPEAN WINE GROUP (IGC IMPORTS), Atlanta, Georgia 1994 – 1997
~ National Sales Manager/Burgundy and Rhone Buyer
Established U.S. market European-wine-development-programs to secure products for direct-import and purchase division of American-based wine-import Company.
- Developed annual sales strategy and market direction achieving $8 million in sales revenue in less than 5 years.
- Serviced distributors at state level throughout the U.S. as a tier one supplier, co- managing company products with state-level wholesalers in 40 states.
- Designed marketing collateral including website, portfolio, point of sale tags, intra-company marketing pieces, and more.
- Built key relationships within myriad communities to boost revenue channel.
- Spearheaded build of bi-weekly eNewsletter to international subscription list. Managed and authored publication.
- Evaluated market analysis and trends for new product development comprising Languedoc/Roussillon wines, wines of Burgundy, Southwest French wines, Rhone wines as well as Spanish, Italian, Australian and other imported wines along with non-traditional products.
- Formulated automated reporting component reducing loss and product expenses ensuring increased profitability.
- Implemented promotional program incorporating known industry experts (Robert Parker, Steve Tanzer), supplying product samples monthly for review resulting in the doubling of sales revenue year one of instituting.
Education
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS – ARLINGTON, Arlington, Texas
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, 1988
L’AMBASSADE DU VIN, Pernand-Vergelesse, France
Certified Sommelier
Certified by the L’Ambassade du VIN, Beaune, France, 1997
