Professional Summary
Overview
Work History
Skills
Timeline

Darlene Johnson

Freed’s Fine Furnishings, Inc.
Rapid City,SD
Darlene Johnson
28
years of professional experience
Director of Stores / Store Manager / Operations Manager leading multi-store retail operations across 3+ stores and attending 2 markets annually, hiring, conflict resolution, merchandising, and process improvement across three retail formats. Owns P&L accountability for a flagship furniture showroom while driving inventory control, AI-assisted marketing, and sales training that lift attachment rates and floor performance. Aligns store execution with buying strategy, ERP workflows used across 6+ functions, and high-end visual presentation to support growth across the business.

Work History

Director of Stores / Store Manager / Operations Manager

27 Years 11 Months
Freed’s Fine Furnishings, Inc. | 09.1998 - Current
  • Executive Leadership: Directed comprehensive operations, hiring, conflict resolution, marketing, and process development across 3 distinct retail formats, with primary P&L accountability for the flagship Ashley HomeStore.
  • Crisis Management & Re-structuring: Co-led corporate recovery and strategic pivot after main store fire in 2017; re-established flooring division and transformed Furniture Mart into high-end design showroom.
  • Sales Performance & Culture: Designed and launched specialized sales contests and structured training programs, successfully lifting staff morale, product knowledge, and ticket attachment rates.
  • Buying & Procurement: Served as primary Buyer since 2002, attending 2 to 4 major industry markets annually (Las Vegas, High Point, Tupelo) to curate product portfolios that drove sales performance.
  • Sales Performance & Culture: Designed and launched specialized sales contests and structured training programs, enhancing staff morale, product knowledge, and ticket attachment rates.
  • Freed’s Fine Furnishings, Inc. | Rapid City, SD

Skills

Store operations
Inventory control
Buying/procurement
Process development
Reporting & analytics
Visual merchandising
Store experience design
Retail marketing campaigns
Product assortment planning
Showroom staging
Merchandise planning
Planogram execution
Category management
Sales floor optimization

Timeline

Director of Stores / Store Manager / Operations Manager

Freed’s Fine Furnishings, Inc.
09.1998 - CurrentRead More
Darlene Johnson