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Christmas Buyer

At Stewarts, we’ve been helping things grow for over 275 years — and at Christmas, that means everything from twinkling trees and sparkling decorations to festive gifts and seasonal inspiration. As a family-run business with three garden centres across Dorset and Hampshire, our own nursery, and a landscaping division, we’re passionate about creating magical experiences for our customers.

Our Christmas Buyer plays a key role in making that magic happen. From spotting the latest festive trends and sourcing exciting new products to building ranges that delight customers year after year, this role helps shape the Christmas experience across all our centres. Working closely with suppliers and teams across the business, you’ll ensure our stores are filled with products that inspire, surprise, and bring a little extra joy to the season.

About the role:

Christmas is one of the most exciting and important seasons at Stewarts, and we're looking for a passionate, creative and commercially minded Christmas Buyer to help bring the magic to life.

Working closely with our Home & Lifestyle teams across the business, you'll be responsible for developing and delivering inspiring Christmas ranges that delight our customers and drive sales. From sourcing the latest festive trends and negotiating with suppliers to planning seasonal displays, purchasing toys for our grottos and ensuring stores are fully stocked, you'll play a key role in shaping the Christmas experience across our three garden centres.

This is a varied, hands-on role that combines buying, merchandising, supplier management and retail operations. You'll spend time both behind the scenes planning future seasons and on the shop floor ensuring our Christmas departments look their very best.

Responsibilities:

Buying & Product Management

  • Source innovative, exciting and commercially successful Christmas products from both existing and new suppliers.
  • Select and develop seasonal ranges that offer quality, choice and value for our customers.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with suppliers, negotiating prices, promotions and trading terms.
  • Monitor market trends and identify new product opportunities.
  • Ensure accurate product and pricing information is provided for stock systems and databases.
  • Authorise and process invoices efficiently and accurately.

Commercial Performance

  • Manage stock levels to ensure availability throughout the season while controlling markdowns and wastage.
  • Monitor stock turn and departmental performance, taking action where required.
  • Identify opportunities to increase sales across stores and online.
  • Support centre management teams in delivering departmental sales and profitability targets.
  • Work collaboratively with Home & Lifestyle Managers to ensure consistency of range, pricing and presentation across all centres.

Merchandising & Retail Standards

  • Plan and implement seasonal changes within Christmas departments.
  • Create and plan visual merchandising ideas and display concepts for the teams to execute to a high and inspirational standard.
  • Ensure pricing and signage are accurate and maintained to the highest standards.
  • Regularly walk departments and storage areas to monitor stock levels, presentation and operational standards.
  • Contribute to space planning and the successful execution of seasonal layouts.
  • Support the smooth delivery of Christmas events and customer experiences.

Customer Experience

  • Engage with customers, gathering feedback and identifying opportunities for improvement.
  • Help create memorable Christmas shopping experiences that keep customers returning year after year.

What You'll Need:

  • Previous buying experience within retail, garden centres, homewares, gifting, seasonal products or a similar environment.
  • Strong commercial awareness and a proven ability to drive sales and profitability.
  • Excellent negotiation and supplier management skills.
  • Strong organisation skills with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
  • Good numerical and analytical skills, with confidence interpreting sales and stock data.
  • Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
  • A proactive, hands-on approach and willingness to work both strategically and operationally.
  • Strong attention to detail and a high standard of presentation.
  • Ability to motivate and support teams to achieve shared goals.
  • A genuine passion for Christmas trends, decorations, gifting and creating memorable customer experiences.

Nice To Have:

  • Experience buying Christmas, seasonal, gifting or home décor products.
  • Knowledge of garden centre retailing and seasonal trading cycles.
  • Experience with EPOS, stock management and retail systems.
  • Visual merchandising experience and an eye for creating inspiring retail displays.
  • Experience planning and delivering retail events.
  • Knowledge of sustainability, ethical sourcing and responsible buying practices.

What It's Like Working At Stewarts:

  • Supportive, close-knit team.
  • A family-run business with strong values and heritage.
  • An opportunity to make a real impact, helping shape one of the most important and exciting seasons in our business.
  • Be part of a business that values personal development and supports its people to grow and succeed.
  • Help create memorable moments for customers and play a key role in bringing Christmas magic to thousands of visitors each year.

Benefits:

  • Generous staff discount in garden centres and cafés.
  • Free on-site parking.
  • Additional day off to celebrate your birthday!
  • Opportunities to attend seasonal events.

The Practical Details:

Contract Type: Permanent – Part time

This role is offered on an annualised hours contract of 1,248 hours per year, with working patterns varying to meet the seasonal demands of the business.  A term time contract would also be considered.

Location: Hybrid. Based at Stewarts Christchurch with regular visits across all sites; (Christchurch BH23 4SA, Abbey PO15 5RB and Broomhill, BH21 7DF)

How to Apply:

If you have a passion for Christmas, a flair for identifying exciting products and emerging trends, and enjoy working in a fast-paced retail environment, we'd love to hear from you!

To apply, please send a copy of your CV and a covering letter to:

HR Department, D Stewart & Son Ltd, 8 Christchurch Business Park, Radar Way, Christchurch BH23 4FL

Or e-mail: [email protected]

Please Note: CVs that do not have an accompanying cover letter will not be considered.