Career Management

OUR MISSION STATEMENT:

The growth of Career Management is driven by our commitment and passion to our Clients and Candidates by consistently providing unparalleled service and results.

A Letter from Lloyd Lippman, President of Career Management

Dear Retail Executive,

Career Management was founded in 1978 in New York City for one reason, to cultivate strong business relationships in support of finding talented executives and managers for the retail and direct mail industry. In more recent years, we've added e-commerce to our areas of expertise.

Over the years our company has grown. We now support an active client base with a significant national presence. I'm also happy to be joined by highly experienced account executives and a substantial team of researchers with offices in New York City and New Jersey.

Our role is to serve as an active partner in the recruitment, restructuring and the rebuilding of both existing and start-up businesses.

As our clients' businesses expand and change, we continue to serve their increased demands and changing objectives by adapting our own business practices and technology to meet those changes and challenges. We successfully manage the recruiting process from beginning to end, and adjust our approach to the needs and demands of our clients as the process evolves.

Cultivating one-on-one professional relationships among clients and candidates contributes to the success of the search. Our clients are continuously impressed with our ability to understand their needs and find the right talent to fill an opening in a timely manner.

We couldn't provide this service without a great team. Each of our account executives has an extensive background in the retail and direct response industries. Our staff is professional, knowledgeable and tenacious, and as a result, successful.

It's our privilege to serve the needs of our clients and our candidates. We look forward to serving all of your hiring and recruiting needs.
Thank you,
Lloyd A. Lippman, President

Our current database has over 70,000 talented candidates. Many of these individuals have experience with today's top retailers. This allows our account executives to consistently and quickly attract the right executives for any management positions your company may have.

Career Management's Areas of Expertise

To serve you best, you will work with the appropriate account executive, but share the resources of our entire team.

• Senior Management Group: Chief Executives, Presidents, Vice Presidents
• Merchandise and Product Group: Merchandising, Buying, Product Development, Design
• Store Group: Store Management, District Management, and Regional Management
• Support Group: Operations, Human Resources, Marketing, Finance, Logistics, Credit, E-Commerce, IT, Visual Merchandising, Planning and Allocation, and Loss Prevention

Our Executives

Lloyd A. Lippman
President
lalippman@careers4retail.com
Lloyd has spent his entire career working for and with the retail industry. He has worked for Abraham & Straus, K-mart Corporation, Canadians (Pants Place Plus) and for Casual Corner as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Allocation.
In 1978, Lloyd founded Career Management and made the retail, direct response (catalog & e-commerce), product development and the design industries the focus of Career Management.
Lloyd serves as President of the Retail Marketing Society, is an Adjunct Professor and is on the Board of Alumni of Fashion Institute of Technology. Lloyd and his team's prior retail experience, perspective and commitment to the retail industry have enabled them to play a significant role in the success and growth of many organizations. Career Management's approach is direct and hands-on. His personal relationships with industry leaders has built Career Management to be one of the major main stays of the executive search industry for retailing and direct response.

Stew Schiffer
Senior Vice President
sschiffer@careers4retail.com
Stew began his career at Alexander's Department Stores, where he held a number of positions in management and merchandising before becoming part of Alexander's Human Resources Division.
He joined Petrie Stores Corporation as Director of Human Resources where he was the company's Senior Human Resource Executive during the years of the company's rapid growth to over 600 stores.
Stew then joined Caldor Department Stores; as Vice President of Human Resources for this 110 store, $1.2 billion mass merchandise chain. Stew had ultimate responsibility for the development and execution of every aspect of the human resource function including: executive recruitment, manpower/succession planning, policy development, employee relations, performance appraisal, policy and labor law compliance, salary administration, benefits administration, executive placement and promotions.
In 1985, Stew joined Career Management. Having sat on both sides of the desk, Stew is able to provide both clients and candidates the benefit of his unique perspective and expertise.

Alan Ravit
Executive Vice President
aravit@careers4retail.com
Alan began his retail career in Abraham and Straus's legendary management training program. After 14 years as a successful owner and operator of a retail business, Alan joined the Fur Vault as General Merchandise Director over all categories.
Alan joined Career Management in 1990. He works closely with clients in a variety of merchandising, product development and design positions. His focus and knowledge of merchants and merchandising has made him a top producer in the search industry and a highly respected recruiting partner to many of the nations leading retailers.

David Gelfman
Vice President
dgelfman@careers4retail.com
During his years in the retail industry, David held executive management positions with Scandinavian Design Home Furnishings, Workbench Furniture and Ames Department Stores. Since joining Career Management in 1993, David has placed numerous candidates into executive positions on the store side at the VP/Director, District Manager, Regional Director and managerial levels. He is also very successful on the corporate side securing qualified candidates for the Merchandising, Operations, Human Resources and Logistics areas. While experienced in all facets of executive search, David has specialized in the home furnishings, mass merchandising, specialty store and sporting goods industries. He continues to help companies grow by his understanding of the client's culture and priorities. The goal is to save the client time and money in obtaining the highest quality candidates to match their needs. His tenacious and creative recruiting skills have resulted in the placement of numerous executives who have "made a difference".

Leonard Kalb
Vice President
lkalb@careers4retail.com
Lenny was Vice President of Operations with Vornado Inc. a multi-billion dollar mass merchandising retailer and was Director of Operations for Master’s Inc., a specialty and off-price apparel chain where he helped both companies during their aggressive growth years.
Lenny had 10 years experience in executive recruiting prior to joining Career Management in 1994.
Although Lenny is an integral part of the store operations division primarily placing Regional, District and Store Managers he also has an extensive history of successfully placing Sr. VP GMM, Sr. VP Regionals, Merchandise Managers, Planning Executives, Buyers, Human Resource Executives and Loss Prevention Directors. His extensive experience in the retailing and search industries has earned him a well deserved reputation for getting results where others have failed.

Elaine Lefkowith
Vice President
elefkowith@careers4retail.com
Elaine has held senior executive positions with Federated Department Stores, The Limited, Charming Shoppes, Brylane Catalog, Casual Corner and B. Moss. Elaine's background in merchandising, product development, manufacturing and store operations gives her a unique and complete understanding of our clients needs.
In addition, Elaine's position as a Senior Merchant enabled her to manage the growth of businesses as well as the development of numerous executives who benefited from her guidance and leadership.
Elaine's joining Career Management ensures that we will continue to provide our clients with exceptional dedication and professionalism.

Robert Smolowitz
Account Executive
rsmolowitz@careers4retail.com
Robert began his career in retail management working with McDonald's and Boston Market Corporation. Joining Career Management in 2000, he has placed executives in all facets of retail management inclusive of store management, district management and merchandising. Robert's background in retailing and as an Executive Recruiter enables him to understand how to successfully bring to our clients the candidates needed for their growth.

Maria Annino
Account Executive
mannino@careers4retail.com
Maria began her retail career with the Abraham and Straus Executive Training program. Over the next twelve years Maria held several executive positions in the areas of Management and Training & Development with Lord & Taylor, Talbots, Macy*s, and Loehmanns.
Maria joined Career Management in 2001 and has been instrumental in placing a large number of executives that range from the stores organization, merchandising & product development, and all areas of support in retailing & direct response.
Maria's experience in the retail industry gives her an exceptional understanding of a client's needs to identify and secure the ideal candidate for success in any search.

Joe Alfano
Vice President
jalfano@careers4retail.com
Joe began his career in retail with ShopRite Supermarkets and developed to a Store Manager Position at the age of twenty-two and has held General Manager and Multi-Store positions with ShopRite Supermarkets, and BJ’s Wholesale Clubs. Joe’s proficiency in project management and operational expertise was utilized during the development and testing of associates as well as the Electronic Replenishment Systems and implementing Operational Efficiencies, Shrink Reduction, and Accident Reduction programs. Joe’s vast background in supermarkets and retailing gives him a unique and informed perspective on matching a client’s needs to a candidate’s skill set.

Alyce Goodman
Vice President
agoodman@careers4retail.com
Alyce Goodman joined Career Management in 2007 with over 30 years of experience in the catalog and retail merchant sectors. She came to Career Management from specialty gift retailer Blue Tulip, where she was Chief Merchandising Officer. Previously, she was Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer for Lillian Vernon. She began her career with Bloomingdales and went on to hold senior executive positions with Carter Hawley Hale; Ann Taylor; J. Crew’s Clifford and Wills division; Hanover Direct; and Ballard Designs.

Sharon B. Pommer
Vice President
spommer@careers4retail.com
Sharon Pommer joined Career Management in 2007 with over 25 years experience in specialty store, catalog, and e-commerce retailing. Most recently, Ms. Pommer was president of merchandising at Alloy, a publicly traded marketing, media and merchandising company. Previously, she served in senior merchandising positions at G + G Retail, Inc, The Children’s Place, and Foxmoor. She began her career in the executive training program at Bamberger’s, a division of RH Macy’s, and went on to hold merchandising and buying positions at Hahne’s and Macy’s NY.

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