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Retail Buyer and Footwear Entrepreneur with extensive experience in Global Sourcing, National Account Sales Management and Product Development with the greatest emphasis on footwear and sporting goods.    

Blue Wave Products, Inc. Sr. Category Manager, Games Batavia, IL Nov 2020 – Nov 2022
• Category Manager Hathaway Branded Game Tables and Outdoor Games
o $20+ Million Annual Ecommerce Sales at Wholesale Selling Price
o Largest Big Box Accounts: Amazon, Wayfair, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Target, Overstock
o 200+ Items, sold on a total of 100 different Ecommerce sites
o Sub-Categories: Billiards and Accessories, Shuffleboard, Outdoor Games, Foosball, Air Hockey, Table 
Tennis and Accessories, Darts, Poker, Arcade Basketball, and Game Room Furniture 
• Buying – Responsible for product mix, cost, wholesale pricing and at the executive level for purchases
• Sourcing – Factory Placement, Cost Negotiation, Terms Negotiation
• Product Development – Created and revamped Billiard Tables and Accessories, Table Tennis Tables and Rackets, 
Air Hockey Tables, Foosball Tables, and Multi Game Items
o Successfully redesigned the skeleton of the #1 billiard table combo set to ship all in one carton which 
will result in millions of dollars in additional sales in that sub-category
• Sales Strategy – Analyze trends, product costs, and margin goals to determine category assortment and pricing
o Successfully created a pricing strategy optimizing a Win-Win for Blue Wave and Amazon on a multimillion dollar direct import program. 
• Customs – HTS# review and corrections resulted in a refund of over $50K in misassigned HTS#s 
• Marketing – Responsible for digital content and product copy for the Salsify Ecommerce database
• Manager – China QC Team Members
• Customer Service – Elevated product quality issues and damages addressed and solutions worked out

Category Manager, Game Tables &  Outdoor Games

o Responsible to manage all product development activities from inception to final product
o Collaborate with merchants to align trends, product costs, and margin goals
o Performed supervisory personnel functions - coaching and developing associates

Manager, Sourcing & Product Development, Footwear

o Sporting Goods Category Management - Game Room, Team Sports, Club Sports, Bikes, Scooters, 
Luggage and Backpacks. 
o Game Room Category highlights:
? Y2018 & Y2019 completely revamped entire imported private label assortments of billiards, 
table tennis, air hockey and foosball
? Y2018 recruited new suppliers and challenged existing suppliers to replace all key items sourced 
by Medal Sports, the #1 Game Room supplier who had discontinued shipping products Q1 2017 
? FY2018 Sales$ and Sales Margin$ exceeded FY2017 
? FY2019 Sales $ and Sales Margin$ clawed back and exceeded Benchmark FY2016
? In FY2018 and FY2019 Strategically reinvented assembled game table displays by store, 
increasing breadth of assortment while limited excessive duplication in a geographical area
o Full Accountability for the business vision to drive the assortment strategy by category to ensure all 
merchandise purchased for resale would be successfully POG’d, featured/displayed, priced/promoted to 
maximize sales and margin goals
o Applied historical financial metrics data, to aid in the creation of buy plans for Sears and Kmart bricksand-mortar stores and their respective e-commerce sites 
o Worked in conjunction with the demand planner to execute each buy plan by managing receipt flows to 
maintain optimum inventory levels by item in stores and distribution centers 
o Worked cross functionally with the following business units: Ecommerce, demand planning, space 
planning, inventory, marketing, finance, legal, logistics, global compliance, QC, and store operations 
o Managed multiple assistants and associates to aid in their professional growth and promotion 
o Branding Strategy & Planning – Brand Positioning
o Vendor Management - Negotiating and Finalizing Terms, Relationship Management
o Inventory Management – Demand Forecasting
o Sourcing/ Procurement – Negotiations, Product Management, Vendor Management, Analysis, 
o Sales Promotion Techniques – Point of Sale, Promotional Pricing, Promotion Events
o BI Tool - MicroStrategy
o Microsoft Office – Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint

Sr. Buyer, Sporting Goods

J. Michael Anderson Founded Step It Up International in February 2005 and assumed the titles of Managing Member/ 
President. Step It Up International, LLC was a multimillion-dollar wholesale importer that designed and sold original 
company designed footwear both as private label and under the licensed brands: Bobby Jack and Loki. The original
company designed footwear was sourced globally and was primarily sold as preordered, containerized bulk goods on a 
first cost and landed basis to national and regional retailers across the United States and Canada. At its peak Step It Up 
International had footwear on the floor of over 3000 stores nationwide. Inactive Website: www.stepitupintl.com
• Managing Member St. Charles, IL Feb 2005 – Nov 2017
o Chief Executive responsible for all financial aspects of the company; bottom line P&L accountability 
o Responsible for managing the preparation and presentation of the annual and quarterly financial 
statements and to lead mandated company quorum meetings, answer applicable questions from fellow 
member/investors and/or their appointed proxies 
o Primary signatory for all legal contracts, financial agreements, and tax filings
? Licensing Agreements (i.e. Bobby Jack, Loki, Hershey’s)
? Retailer Agreements (i.e. Compliance, Business Terms and Subsidy/Advertising) 
? Import Product’s Proforma Invoices (i.e. Supplier, Payment Terms, Quantity and Shipdate)
? Procurement and Operational Agreements (i.e. Office Lease, Phone, Utilities, EDI, Freight 
Forwarding, Warehousing, Banking, Factoring, Accounting and Legal)
• President St. Charles, IL Feb 2005 – Nov 2017
o Global Sourcing 
? Chief Executive in charge of all Global Sourcing decisions and direction
? P&L Responsibility to negotiate and approve product costs, payment terms and signatory with 
all product suppliers and the signatory for all Import Proforma Invoices
? Traveled internationally multiple times annually to attend trade shows to prospect for new 
suppliers, and scheduled follow up visits to new factories to assess value and consideration for 
current and/or future order placement
? Company’s mass production factory locations in China: Shenzhen, Dong Guan, Xiamen, Jin Jiang, 
Quanzhou, Putian, Fuzhou, Wenzhou, Yangzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo, and Tianjin
? Managed personnel to ship high quality mass production on time 
o Product Development
? Chief Executive in charge of original company designed footwear 
? Recruited, interviewed, hired, and managed all footwear product development team members 
(i.e. footwear designers, graphic designers, brand managers and QC)
? Original Company Designed Footwear: 
• Genders: Men’s, Women’s, Children’s, 
• Private label and licensed brand labels
o Company Licensed Brands: 
? Bobby Jack (Tween Girls Monkey Character Footwear)
? Loki (Men’s Hikers, Casuals, Sandals, and Amphibious Footwear)
• Footwear Types: Good Year Welt Work Boots; Hikers, Canvas Vulcanized, Athletics,
Casuals, Molded Clogs, Zoris, Slippers, and the 4-in-1 Loki Morph
o Sales
? Chief Executive in charge of all Company Sales and Marketing
? Recruited, interviewed, and hired all company account representatives
? Company Retail Accounts: 
• AAFES, Academy, Bass Pro Shops, Belk, Bob’s Stores, Burlington, Charming Shoppes, 
DSW, Famous Footwear, Foot Smart, Fred Meyer, Gabriel Brothers, Gander Mountain, 
JC Penney, Macy’s, Marshalls, Meijer, Mervyn’s, Nordstrom’s, Parisian, Peebles, 
Robinsons-May, Ross, Sears, Sears Canada, Shoe Department, Shoe Show, Shopko, Stage 
Stores, TJ Maxx, WSS-Eurostar
? As President, still maintained a select portfolio of critical retail sales accounts 
? Trained, Mentored and Managed account representatives to cold call, set appointments, 
present product, quote pricing, detail samples, and close sale


President & CEO / Managing Member

Eastman Footwear Group EVP International / VP Sales New York, NY Dec 2001– Jan 2005
? Executive Vice President - International Division New York, NY Sept 2004 – Jan 2005 
o Executive responsible for all Sales of Coleman Branded Outdoor Footwear to Japan and Australia
o Executive responsible for all Sourcing and Product Development in China for International Division
o Multiple International Sales trips to Japan and Australia and sourcing & product development in China 
 
? Vice President - Sales New York, NY Dec 2001 – Jan 2005
o Responsible for the following National Sales Accounts: Sears, Kohl’s, Sports Authority and Meijer
? Annual Sales$ Increased 900% FY2002 thru FY2004; FY2004 FOB Annual Sales$ $18 Million 
? Footwear Products Sold: Men’s Private Label and Licensed Brands: Bill Blass, Coleman, 
Claiborne, John Henry, Weatherproof and Totes; following categories sold: Dress Shoes, Hikers, 
Casuals, Sandals, Winter Boots and Work Boots
o One of the top five company executives in $100+ Million wholesale footwear import company and made 
the following company-wide contributions:
? Introduced new factories
? Improved quantity and quality of product development
? Introduced new strategic sales timelines and techniques 
? Growth in my Individually Assigned Retail Accounts, gave halo effect to increasing bargaining 
power and factory placement for all related categories and brands 
o Overseas Responsibilities (China, Italy, Japan, Australia) 
? Traveled Extensively to China and Italy for product development, factory sourcing and mass 
production quality reviews 
? Worked Cross Functionally to managed Factory Sourcing, Product Development & Design and 
Quality Control for the company assigned national accounts 

VP Sales, Footwear / EVP International Division

E.S. Originals Inc Senior Account Executive/ Product Develop Manager / QC Jan 1991- Dec 2001
• Senior Account Executive New York, NY Aug 1992 - Dec 2001
o Accounts: Sears, Kohl’s, Florsheim, Meijer, Zellers, Fred Meyer, Yellow Stores
o Annual Sales $12.5 Million ; Men’s private label footwear
• Manager, Product Development Taipei, Taiwan Aug 1991 – Aug 1992
o Personnel Management – Five-Member International Product Development Team
o Category Management - $30 Million Men’s Casual and Dress Private Label Footwear Division
• Lead, Product Development / QC Team Member Guangzhou, China Jan 1991 – Aug 1991
o Product Development - Men’s Casual and Dress Private Label Footwear
o Quality Control – Men’s Private Label Footwear and Women’s Private Label Dress Shoes				




Account Executive, Footwear / Ex-Pat Product Development Manager, Footwear / Ex-Pat QC

Find out detailed information about J. Michael Anderson,  in Wayne, IL

J. Michael Anderson: in Wayne, IL

J. Michael Anderson

Michigan State University