CDZ’s sister company, Distinct Sales & Marketing was officially formed 5/1/14. We have just moved into new offices in Chesapeake VA. with prime responsibility being Dollar Tree HQ, located half mile from our offices. Accounts such as Ollies Bargain Outlet and 5 Below will also be addressed. We are building a successful business model similar to the Bentonville operation (Select Sales & Marketing) run by our partner, Joe Murphy. As in the case of Select, CDZ is 50% partners in Distinct. We are fully engaged from both a financial as well as strategic standpoint. The current team is long on Dollar Tree experience and expertise in the broker business as well.
Bryan Bagwell is co-owner of Distinct and oversees the everyday operation in addition to making HQ sales calls. Bryan began his career with Dollar Tree when the company opened its first store. He left as a senior VP of Merchandise 27 years later when the chain had grown to 2700 stores. He was very instrumental in the development of all categories at Dollar Tree from its very early stages of existence. Many of the current DT staff were actually hired by Bryan and many relationships remain solidly intact. Since he left in 2004, Bryan has been involved in global sourcing for DT as well as starting his own rep agency.
We were very fortunate to have Luanne McCarty on our Distinct Sales. Luanne began her career in retail at store level with Dollar Tree before moving to corporate HQ. She steadily progressed through the ranks, learning all facets of purchasing including imports. Luanne ultimately became the buyer of one of the most important categories at Dollar Tree, that being the HBC department. She excels in product development, strategic planning, forecasting and most importantly, developing unique solutions to difficult challenges. That trait has proven invaluable to vendors since Luanne left Dollar Tree to pursue a career as a manufacturer’s rep.
As mentioned earlier, we are very excited about this division and are obviously interested in discussing any and all opportunities our vendor partners feel would be mutually beneficial. Both Bryan and Luanne have vast experience in every category CDZ currently is involved with. Our intention is to continue to invest in local talent until Distinct Sales & Marketing is second to none in the eyes of Dollar Tree.
