About Us
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 100,000 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
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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.
"I have worked with Lloyd for over 14 years and three different organizations. He has been not only an excellent resource for top industry talent, but has proven to be a strong business partner truly working with his clients to help set strategy and to chart the right course toward achieving corporate goals and objectives.He maintains an extremely professional demeanor which allows him to work closely with the Talent Acquisiiton team but also be able to present to both the C-suite executives and Boards of Directors as necessary. I highly recommend Lloyd and his team to support any size company's hiring objectives." Personable, Expert, High Integrity
Ray B. VP/HR
"I have had the pleasure to have worked with Lloyd and his firm for many years and am delighted to provide this recommendation.
From a business perspective, Lloyd is the search partner we all want. He is focused, thoughtful and committed to bring the best "world class talent" to an organization. This was evidenced in his support of the growth of Bath and Body Works as well as most recently Tween Brands. I could count on Lloyd and team to deliver quality candidates who met or exceeded the expectations of our organization. His knowledege of retail and of specific functions due to his prior life's experiences make him a great partner.
On the other side, I have come to know Lloyd personally and trust his judgenment and counsel. He is committed to his family and his support of the community. He also gives back as a teacher and mentor with his work at FIT, where I have had the priviledge of addressing his students.They learn much from Lloyd, and he learns much from them.
It is a pleasure and honor for me to provide this heartfelt recommendation for Lloyd and I look forward to working with him in the future."
Roy C. VP/HR
Stew Schiffer
Senior Vice President
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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
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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.
"I had the pleasure of working with Alan during my my job search, and was impressed with his tenacity and creative solutions for his clients. Alan successfully builds and develops productive relationships that provide successful matches for the candidate. He continues to expand his network and I highly recommend his work."
Mary H. VP/DMM
"I have known and worked with Alan Ravit for over 20 years. I first met him when I started at Limited Brands and he helped me find great candidates in merchandising. Together, we became a true team with Alan taking as much pride in the organization we built as I did. Over the years, I have come to rely on Alan to help me whenever I need talent. He is fast, smart, has great resources and can always be counted on. I would recommend him highly to any organization at any time. He represents what a business partner should be but rarely is." Fred L. EVP/HR
David Gelfman
Vice President
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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".
"It is a genuine pleasure for me to recommend David Gelfman of Career Management. As CEO of Domain Home Fashions, I worked with David on search assignments in our retail organization for over 8 years. David was very effective at capturing the essence of our requirements, and worked diligently to define the job description and role to ensure that the individual would fit into the position and the culture at Domain.
David worked not only as a vendor, but as a partner to our management team. Our executive team would ask him for advice or to do a project simply because it would help Domain become a better company. We knew that he was available 24/7 and considered us a high priority retained client. David was extremely responsive to phone calls and would help, when asked, in counseling a candidate who was undecided about a job opportunity. From speaking with candidates, it was evident that David was very attentive to their and Domain's needs, making sure that both sides were ultimately satisfied with a job offer. Lastly, when there was a need for implementing our guarantee on a candidate due to their leaving the company within the guarantee period, he was very dependable in refilling that position in a prompt manner. We found David to be consistent, extremely effective and timely, with excellent resources." Great Results, Personable, Expert Judy G. CEO
"I hired David to work on a few niche positions within the furniture/retail industry. David is a resilient, consistent, professional recruiter that focuses on building strong relationships with his clients in order to better serve their needs. He is a great networker and is well connnected in the industry. He was able to identify quality talent quickly and keep candidates engaged when things were moving slower than expected. I highly recommend David to anyone that is looking for a business partner that focuses on quality candidates versus quantity of candidates." Personable, High Integrity Aaronita R. Talent Acquisition Specialist
Leonard Kalb
Vice President
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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.
"I've worked with and known Lenny for over a decade. In the search business, there are really only a handful of professionals that have the resourcefulness, thoroughness, and integrity to manage for the "long haul". Lenny builds long term relationships with his client and seeks to understand the culture of the organization first, the detail of the job second, and then make the appropriate placements. Consistent with that, Lenny knows how to close the deal with his candidates. Most importantly, Lenny does what he says he is going to do." Expert, High Integrity Tim B. EVP/HR
"I have worked with Lenny on both sides of the equation. As a Vice President of store operations with the Avenue, I contracted with Lenny to find us high caliber candidates for District and Regional Manager positions. Currently, he is helping me find a new opportunity as a Vice President of store operations.
On both sides of the equation I have been very pleased with the results of our relationship. Lenny has the abiltity to surface qualified and experienced candidates. He takes the open position on as a challenge and will give it his full attention until he has found a suitable successful candidate.
Lenny has been a tremendous help in my search for a new opportunity. Not only has he kept me notified of the opportunities within the industry but he has help mold a newly created postion with a retailer, so it matched my experience and skills. Basically, he not only found me a new opportunity but, he created one. You can not ask for more than that.
I would recommend Lenny on both sides of the recruiting equation." Great Results, Personable, Expert Patrick M. EVP Operations
"I have worked with Lenny on a search and found him to be an outstanding recruiter from many aspects. He understands his clients and knows how to bring value to the process. Lenny is a keen negotiator who keeps the lines of communications open and conitues to work towards a "win-win" solutions. It's clear his clients value him for both his knowledge of the retail industry and for his high intergrity. He gave me sound advice throughout the entire process. I also found him to add humor and perspective during the stressful times. I would highly recommend anyone looking to change positions to work with Lenny.
John L. SVP
Elaine Lefkowith
Vice President
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Elaine Lefkowith is an experienced recruitment professional dedicated to providing her clients in the Retail, Catalog, and E-Commerce sector with talented individuals capable of impacting top line sales and bottom line profits. She has placed mid to senior level executives in Marketing, Merchandising, Buying, Product Development and Design, as well as Planning & Allocation. A former retailer, Elaine has held senior level positions inclusive of VP, EVP and GMM at The Limited, Casual Corner, Charming Shops, Brylane Catalog, and Federated/Macy's Merchandising Group. This experience provides her clients with a comprehensive knowledge, and ability to assess the skills needed to effectively manage and build companies. In addition, her hands on approach to the search process, focuses on working closely with candidates and clients from the initial stages of the search through to successful completion.
Robert Smolowitz
Vice President
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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.
"I worked very closley with Robert for many years. At the time I was the Director of Recruitment and Training at Modell''s Sporting Goods. In fact, I worked with many recruiters and staffing agencies, however, most of my business was given to Robert. Why? It's real simple: he has the #1 skill that I feel is so critical in the staffing field. Robert works hard at learning what his clients want, both in terms of skills and personality, and finds the perfect candidate. He was "on the money" so many times, it was almost like he was able to read my mind. He knew what our company wanted - and delivered, time and time again. And he was thoroughly knoweldgable about the retail industry.
Robert also knows how to develop solid, trusting relationships with his clients. I trusted and relied upon him. And he never failed to find the perfect candidate for me. Robert's follow-up skills are extraordinary. He has an unbeleivable sense of urgency with a very strong attention to detail. Many times he would call me at home with updates, questions, or just to strategize on a search he was doing for me. That means he was reaching out to candidates in the evenings, when they are available to talk.The staffing business is filled with amateurs, folks who "talk a good game" but can't deliver. If I was researching a search firm, and Robert Smolowitz was working there, the decision would be easy. He is a thorough professional, who gets results. For all of these reasons, I am very happy to recommend Robert.
I would be happy to further discuss Robert's work to anyone who is interested.
Craig R. Director of Career Development & Technical Training Services
"Robert is a dedicated, diligent and resourceful Talent Acquisition professional that genuinely cares about his clients and his candidates. His communication and follow up are always timely, precise and relevant. Robert's industry expertise and customer centric personality make him a fantastic representation of our company in the marketplace. I look forward to continued partnership!" Personable,OnTime,HighIntegrity. Stella T. PHR
Sharon B. Pommer
Vice President
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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.
To find out more about us call 732.937.4800