Helen Nakos, CCR

Experience

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  Borders

  Feb 1998 - Apr 2011

  I have managed high profile, high volume, multi-level urban stores to a low volume suburban store. Urban locations included top event and corporate sales locations. All General Manager positions duties included: Human Resources Management of the entire life-cycle of an employee (including compliance with all federal, state and local laws), Balanced Score Card accountability, Operations, Inventory Management, Merchandising, Profit & Loss accountability, line item review of the General Ledger, reconciliation of the Accounts Payable Report, Purchasing Card accountability and reconciliation (for all card holder positions at each location), management of the Borders Retail Safety Program (OSHA compliance), and Annual Inventory execution and results. From my work experience you will see breaks in the general manager position to perform other job functions for Borders. Multiple team and sales awards and bonuses achieved at Chicago (Loop) store and St. Charles, IL are described below. Show less Duties included: Managing three Day-by-Day Calendar Co. locations and one Temporary Borders Express Bookstore in three malls; directing store managers on merchandising, inventory, customer service standards, and controls in six Day-by-Day Calendar Co. locations in four malls; performing store audits and reviews and reporting results to district, regional, and internal partners; coordinating all installations and take-downs, maintaining all vendor and landlord relationships; and managing hiring, training, and performance in locations under my direct supervision. Show less Duties included: directing twenty-two Day-by-Day Calendar Co. locations in seventeen malls, located in Wisconsin and Illinois; coordinating all installations and take-downs, and all vendor and landlord relationships; collaborating directly with regional, district and store managers to manage budgets, profit/loss goals, loss prevention controls, staffing, inventory, marketing initiatives, and customer service; and performing store audits and reviews to ensure all stores passed Loss Prevention audits. Achieved top-line sales at four locations. Show less Duties Included: managing daily store and sales floor operations, and role-based functions through rotation of the Inventory, Merchandising, and Human Resources Assistant Manager positions; completing Borders Development Center Assessment and Borders Management Training; coordinating inventory staffing, merchandising, and basic operations for The Los Angeles Festival of Books; and managing inventory, operations, merchandising, and partner relationships for The Dalai Lama's Millennium Visit on-site store at the Los Angeles Arena. Show less

  • General Manager

    Oct 2000 - Apr 2011

  • Area Manager

    Jul 2010 - Feb 2011

  • Area Manager

    Aug 2008 - Jan 2009

  • Corporate Sales Coordinator

    Oct 2002 - Jul 2004

  • Assistant Manager

    Aug 1998 - Sept 2000

  • Corporate Sales Representative

    Feb 1998 - Jul 1998
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  Trader Joe's

  May 2011 - Dec 2013

  Mate

  My duties included: supporting the store captain by participating in all aspects of management; supervising over eighty crew members, and managing the Tasting Program, Demonstration Station Program, new hire orientation, ongoing crew training and community events. I participated in the fast-tracked, corporate-sponsored training program designed for experienced retail managers with significant leadership and customer service skills by experiencing varied leadership styles and store environments from suburban to high-volume energetic urban locations, and by completing development building blocks: Fiscal Planning, Operational Duties, Receiving, Order Writing, Store Maintenance & Safety Program, Assisting Store Inventories, Merchandising, Recruitment, Interviewing & Top-Grading, New Hire Orientation & Training, New Store Openings, Community Relations, Demonstration Station Experience, Grand Finale Experience, and Trader Joe’s University Workshop for Novitiates, Mate One, and Mate Two. Show less

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  Cowley College

  Mar 2014 - Oct 2014

  Duties included: supervising two representatives, one administrative assistant/tour coordinator, and over twenty-five student ambassadors; managing all functions and activities of Admissions by reviewing and approving all expenses and travel charges for activities, by reviewing and approving the yearly budget for admissions, by improving activities with high schools through observation of stakeholders, revising procedures, and re-directing behaviors, and by recruiting, interviewing and hiring student ambassadors and revising the student ambassador agreement and training based on performance feedback; developing and implementing a new recruitment plan that updates and automates routine business processes, by compiling, analyzing and leveraging weekly and monthly data and identifying trends, and by identifying missing key data and creating new business processes to capture that data; coordinating all admissions and enrollment marketing materials with the Director of Marketing and regional recruiting with Allied Health, Career & Technical Education, Humanities, and Social Science departments; and participating as a voting member of College Coordinating Council, member of the Marketing Advisory Council, the AQIP Career Center Committee, Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee, and the Arkansas City Chamber of Commerce Education Committee. Show less My duties included: managing the functions of Enrollment Management within admissions, student services, and financial aid by reducing the operating budget, by integrating disjointed but relevant information from various sources, by reviewing and revising the handling and routing instructions of the Automated Call Distributor, and by reviewing and approving purchase orders, travel requests, reconciliation of discrepancies in budget line items; developing short and long term enrollment management processes and by assisting in the development of of new student orientation and first year experience courses; collaborating with other departments by scheduling recruitment activities and general education programs, by revising the college's procedures; advising in the development of a facilities master plan, a technology master plan and an academic master plan as building blocks for the future institutional strategic plan. Show less

  • Director of Admissions

    Jan 2014 - Oct 2014

  • Interim Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management

    Mar 2014 - Jul 2014
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  Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo

  Nov 2014 - Sept 2015

  General Manager, Wildlife Trading Post

  Duties include: supervising three supervisors and over twenty associates; managing all functions and daily operations of assigned retail locations; monitoring financial performance of all locations and implementing corrective actions in controllable areas; coordinating assigned special events and programs; assisting in the development and implementation of training programs; preparing an annual staffing plan and business plan, and supporting the employee survey and action planning processes.

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  Joliet Junior College

  Sept 2015 - now

  Duties include: supervising over thirty employees; recruiting, selecting, hiring, and training new bookstore staff; directing all operations of two brick and mortar locations and e-commerce bookstore operations; overseeing of purchasing, merchandising, marketing, cashiering, customer service, inventory and accounting functions; facilitating communication of course materials with academic departments and vendors; identifying opportunities, risks, and strategies to achieve planned goals; maintaining efficient flow of duties by initiating reviewing and revising procedures and training; providing technical expertise, information, and assistance to senior management regarding bookstore; implementing and administering POS systems, ecommerce sites, and affiliate sites; presenting to staff, faculty, academic leadership and Board of Trustees on textbook affordability and digital materials; participating as a member of the Environmental health & Safety Committee, Photo ID Committee, and the Cengage Unlimited Taskforce. Show less

  • Manager, Bookstore & Auxiliary Support Services

    Jul 2019 - now

  • Assistant Director, Auxiliary Services

    Sept 2015 - Jul 2019