BuildDirect.com Expands Management Team

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BuildDirect.com, North America's largest online destination for heavy weight building materials such as flooring and decking, announced Gail Galea joined the senior management team as chief merchandising officer.  

Galea, previously Walmart Canada's senior vice-president of merchandising - strategic initiatives, brings a wealth of experience in global sourcing, multi-category product development and market positioning.

BuildDirect, which has tripled its team in the last six months, has tasked Galea with adding new product lines, expanding a strong supplier network and refining the company's worldwide sales strategy.

"BuildDirect completely revolutionized the building supplies industry by leveraging incredibly powerful data to predict demand and drive costs out of the supply chain," Galea stated. "I immediately saw how effective BuildDirect's approach would be in creating an entirely new and efficient e-commerce business."

"Gail has a proven track record of helping high-growth companies increase market share exponentially," said Jeff Booth, president and CEO of BuildDirect. "She really excels in strategic roles and brings to us the best of both worlds - having worked with the world's largest retailer as well as smaller entrepreneurial teams."

BuildDirect, which recently closed $16 million from the venture capital arm of OMERS, doubled their number of customers in the last year. The company is using its data-driven platform to make online purchasing the norm in an industry that has lagged in terms of e-commerce adoption - offering customers up to 80% cost savings.

The flooring market in the U.S. alone is US $17 billion annually and the broader building products market is US $492 billion. (Source: Catalina Research and US Census Bureau, Lowe's 10K, 2010)

"BuildDirect has established itself as a leader in e-commerce for the heavy building materials industry," added Galea. "I'm thrilled to spearhead new strategies for first-to-market opportunities. The ultimate result is continually providing our customers unbeatable value and product selection and the best possible experience ordering online."

About BuildDirect.com
Founded in 1999, BuildDirect.com is an e-commerce provider completely disrupting the retail building products industry by bridging the gap between the manufacturer and end user. By simplifying the supply chain, solving a heavy freight shipping issue that plagued the industry and creating a proprietary data-driven platform that benefits manufacturers, partners and customers alike, BuildDirect customers ultimately enjoy up to 80% cost savings. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, B.C, with eight warehouse locations in the US and hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers. For more information visit www.builddirect.com

Contact:
Cross Border Communications
Jackie Peterson
Media Relations for BuildDirect
1-778-384-3384
[email protected]
www.crossborderpr.com

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SOURCE BuildDirect