Kent Gardner

About Kent Gardner

20 years experience in the Sports Industry primarily as a Supply Chain, Merchandising, Operations, Retail, Logistics & Customer Service professional. Throughout a 17+ year career with Nike, I drove critical action to deliver on-field athlete products & retail consumer merchandise for dozens of high profile projects, events & initiatives.Highlights include:‘08-‘09 Elite Client Sports Marketing‘10-‘11 TEAM Sports‘12 London Olympics‘14 World Cup (Brazil)‘16 Euro Championship (Soccer)‘16 Rio Olympics‘17 NBA Sponsorship & Global Launch ‘18-‘21 Dozens of Jordan Brand product launchesWith the Utah Jazz (‘22), I led the Retail team through the biggest rebrand in franchise history- Strategic & targeted liquidation of ‘classic’ branded merchandise - Receipt & warehousing of 2+ season’s worth of ‘new’ branded merchandise- Complete build of new on-site warehouse- Comprehensive coordination, planning, purchasing, receipt & warehousing of all ‘23 SLC All-Star Game* merchandise*Our team broke the NBA revenue record for All-Star Weekend!As a leader, I take tremendous pride in delivering the best possible results in high profile situations. I excel in planning & preparation for all levels of success, working diligently to foster growth & development of my team to ultimately achieve success together. I take my responsibility as a mentor with a great amount of care & sincerity, intensely focused on the individual goals, strengths & areas of opportunity of each person I’m responsible for. I’ve worked for many wonderful leaders throughout my career & want to pass on a strong legacy of developing & promoting others as much as I possibly can.Outside of work, I enjoy running & playing basketball. You’ll also frequently find me cheering at a prep, college or pro sporting event w/ family & friends, creating lifelong memories & deepening our relationships through sports. I also love coaching youth baseball & basketball athletes. I have over 10 years of experience coaching my older son in baseball (including 2 years in a senior leadership role as the league District Commissioner) & am well into a wonderful journey coaching my younger son. Providing a positive, supportive environment w/in the community for young players to learn & develop teamwork & personal skills is my favorite part of being a coach.Feel free to reach out & connect, I love meeting new people & creating new relationships!

Experience

1. Oakley

   Present

Education

• Westminster University

  Master of Business Administration - MBA

  2006 — 2007

• University of Utah

  BA, Communication

  2000 — 2002

Skills

• Store Operations
• Customer Service
• Loss Prevention
• Sporting Goods
• Retail Sales
• Pos
• Apparel
• Sports Marketing
• Retail
• Sales
• Product Knowledge
• Sportswear
• Trend Analysis
• Footwear
• Account Management
• Inventory Management
• Inventory Control
• Coaching
• Assortment
• Visual Merchandising