Director, Retail Visual Merchandising
Comfrt · United States · remote
About Comfrt
Comfrt LLC is the #1 Hoodie Brand in the U.S. and the #1 Apparel Brand on TikTok globally—built on a mission to support mental health and create everything comfortable for an easy, stress-free, cozy lifestyle. Our elevated basics are worn by millions and loved for their perfect mix of comfort, style, and cultural relevance.
About the Role
As we expand our retail footprint, we're seeking a strategic, creative, and commercially driven Director of Retail Visual Merchandising to build and lead the visual merchandising function across our growing fleet of stores. This role will bridge product strategy, brand storytelling, and retail execution, developing scalable merchandising strategies that elevate the customer experience while driving sales productivity and four-wall profitability.
Reporting to the VP of Retail, this leader will work in close partnership with the Director of Retail, Retail Demand Planner, and cross-functional partners to influence product decisions, optimize merchandising performance, and establish the tools, processes, and standards needed to support Comfrt's continued retail expansion.
What You'll Do
Own the vision, strategy, and execution of Comfrt's retail visual merchandising function, with accountability for driving commercial performance through product presentation, assortment storytelling, and space productivity. Lead the development of scalable merchandising standards, tools, and processes while partnering with Retail Planning, Product, Marketing, and Retail Operations to ensure merchandising strategies align with customer demand, inventory investments, and broader company objectives.
Serve as a strategic partner to retail leadership, translating business insights into actionable merchandising decisions that improve sales, conversion, product productivity, and profitability across the fleet.
Key Responsibilities
Visual Merchandising Strategy & Brand Experience
- Develop and own the overarching visual merchandising strategy across all retail locations, ensuring a consistent, elevated brand experience that supports commercial objectives.
- Build the foundational visual merchandising framework for Comfrt's growing retail fleet, including presentation standards, product placement principles, floor set strategies, space allocation guidelines, and seasonal merchandising playbooks.
- Establish scalable tools, systems, and processes that enable consistent visual execution while allowing for flexibility based on store format, customer behavior, regional demand, and inventory availability.
- Lead the development and distribution of visual merchandising directives, floor sets, seasonal merchandising guides, and product storytelling strategies.
- Establish merchandising strategies that balance brand storytelling with commercial performance, optimizing product visibility, customer engagement, and store productivity.
- Ensure the visual merchandising strategy evolves alongside company growth, product innovation, seasonal campaigns, and changing customer expectations.
Product Strategy, Planning & Merchandising Performance
- Partner closely with the Retail Demand Planner and Product teams to influence retail product buys, assortment architecture, and inventory investments using data-driven insights, customer behavior, and company objectives.
- Provide a retail-specific perspective on product assortment, category opportunities, product depth, and emerging customer preferences to inform future product development and buying decisions.
- Own the development of merchandising strategies that maximize product productivity, optimize selling space, and support overall store profitability.
- Own the analyzing of product performance, sell-through, inventory productivity, category contribution, and customer shopping patterns to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Own and establish an ongoing cadence of data-driven reporting and merchandising performance reviews, translating insights into actionable recommendations for retail leadership and cross-functional partners.
- Own discussions to move quickly to adjust merchandising strategies, product placement, and presentation priorities based on sales trends, inventory positions, and store-level performance.
- Partner with Retail Planning and Operations to develop strategies for underperforming products, excess inventory, new product introductions, and key selling periods.
- Influence assortment and merchandising decisions through a balance of commercial insights, customer experience considerations, and brand objectives.
Field Leadership & Store Development
- Lead the development of visual merchandising capabilities across the retail organization, establishing clear expectations, accountability, and execution standards.
- Coach and develop store-level Visual Merchandising Leads and field leadership through structured training, ongoing feedback, and professional development.
- Partner closely with the Director of Retail, District Managers, and Store Managers to ensure merchandising strategies are understood, consistently executed, and connected to business results.
- Establish a consistent field communication and feedback structure, ensuring store teams have the tools, resources, and guidance needed to execute effectively.
- Conduct regular market visits to evaluate merchandising execution, identify commercial opportunities, and gain firsthand insights into customer shopping behaviors.
- Build a scalable approach to visual merchandising training, audits, and performance accountability that supports the organization's continued growth.
New Store Openings & Visual Execution
- Own the visual merchandising strategy and execution for new store openings, remodels, and major store transitions.
- Partner with the Retail Demand Planner, Product, and Retail Operations teams to support new store assortment planning, initial inventory investments, product allocation, and opening merchandising strategies.
- Develop store-specific merchandising plans that account for store format, selling space, product assortment, customer demographics, and projected sales performance.
- Collaborate with Store Development and Retail Operations during the design and planning process to ensure store layouts, fixtures, and merchandising infrastructure support both brand experience and commercial productivity.
- Establish standardized new store opening visual merchandising processes, timelines, readiness checklists, and execution expectations.
- Evaluate post-opening merchandising performance and incorporate learnings into future store planning, assortment strategies, and merchandising standards.
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Serve as a strategic partner to the VP of Retail, Director of Retail, Retail Demand Planner, Product, Brand, Creative, Retail Marketing, and Retail Operations teams.
- Partner with Retail Marketing, Brand, and Creative to translate company-wide campaigns, product launches, and retail activations into compelling in-store product experiences.
- Develop product merchandising strategies that support key marketing moments, seasonal campaigns, promotional initiatives, and localized retail activations.
- Collaborate with Product and Retail Planning to ensure marketing and merchandising strategies are supported by appropriate assortment, inventory availability, and product placement.
- Provide ongoing insights to cross-functional partners regarding customer preferences, product performance, assortment opportunities, and emerging retail trends.
- Act as the voice of the retail customer in cross-functional planning discussions, helping inform broader product and brand strategies through store-level insights.
- Build strong relationships across the organization to ensure visual merchandising is integrated into broader business planning rather than operating solely as an execution function.
Business Performance & Operational Excellence
- Own the development of visual