Jennifer Schultz

Jen comes to the Grainger Center with over four years of experience in vendor management, procurement, merchandise allocation, and logistics. She has worked in multiple industries, including retail, health care, and environmental solutions. Most recently, Jen worked in purchasing for Direct Supply, where she managed a vendor portfolio including such manufacturers as GE, Carrier, Rubbermaid, and Whirlpool. While at Direct Supply, Jen honed her skills in negotiating, sourcing, managing vendor relationships, and reducing total cost of ownership.

Prior to joining Direct Supply, Jen worked in the buying offices for Kohl’s Department Stores. As a merchandise analyst, she researched and analyzed data in order to allocate merchandise for nearly 500 stores across the United States. She planned and executed successful new store openings in several markets, including Atlanta, Houston, Boston, and Los Angeles. To open new stores successfully, Jen coordinated with logistics, advertising, store management, and finance.  These interactions gave her a great vision of how teamwork and supply chain integration allow businesses to flourish.

Jen received her BBA degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001, majoring in marketing, management, and human resources. She is thrilled to be back in Madison for her MBA in supply chain management and is looking forward to learning how to best optimize and integrate the supply chain in the future.