Grace Dennison
Senior Merchandising Leader
My relationship with retail started the way a lot of good ones do, folding sweaters as a teenage sales associate at Gap. After finishing my degree at Michigan State and moving to the DMV, that early interest turned into a career when I accepted an opportunity at Under Armour in 2010. I spent 15 years building and leading multiple categories and eventually channel teams. I spent the longest stretch of my career leading Under Armour's single biggest channel, Outlet, before changing gears and dipping my toes into the ecommerce world. Most recently I've been taking on client work through my LLC, by Grace Dennison.
I've learned many things after a decade and half in the industry but the most important is this - merchandising is simple in theory and complicated in practice. Getting merchandising wrong can make or break a brand.
My advice?
Choose the right Merchant.
Let's Connect
Career Archives
Work History
2024 - 2025
Head of Merchandising, Ecommerce
Under Armour
- Led a team of 4 merchants through significant strategic shift, including 25% YoY Sku reduction and rebalancing the assortment to drive premium on-site experience
- Reimagined GTM calendar specific to Ecommerce channel, elevating cross-functional collaboration and strengthening seasonal execution
- Developed merchandising frameworks that supported Tik Tok shop launch strategy and personalization.
2018 - 2024
Head of Merchandising, Factory House
Under Armour
- Built and executed Merchandising vision strategy for 180 Retail Store fleet across US & CA that balanced commercial priorities, brand objectives and profitability targets
- Led, developed, and inspired a high-performing team of 9 merchandising professionals building organizational capability, strengthening talent, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
- Partnered cross-functional with leaders from Merch Planning, Pricing, Store Op's, Marketing, VM, and Store ops to achieve weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly revenue targets
2016 - 2018
Senior Merchant , Factory House
Men's, Womens, Youth Apparel
Men's Apparel
Under Armour
- Led a team of 4 Merchants in delivering profitable product strategy & assortments across Mens, Womens & Youth apparel representing $700M, 75% of revenue in the Outlet channel.
- Developed and executed a unified fleece strategy across Men’s, Women’s, and Youth, leveraging fabric scale to increase volume and reduce costs.
- Built and operationalized seasonal merchandising calendar and GTM process, improving cross-functional alignment and execution
2014 - 2016
Merchant , Factory House
Men's Apparel
Youth Apparel
Under Armour
- In Men's Apparel, Reversed negative comp trend from -3% to +7% and sustained performance through data analysis, assortment optimization and strategic inventory management.
- Developed and executed a multi-year assortment strategy to scale Men’s pants to 15% of total business.
- In Youth Apparel, partnered cross-functionally to develop and implement a "Youth Only" store concept that launched in 5 stores.
- Grew Youth Apparel business +300% in Revenue and doubling contribution from 7% to 14%
2012 - 2014
Associate Merchant , Factory House
Youth Apparel
Under Armour
Testimonials
Testimonials
Real feedback from former Teammates
I had the privilege of working for Grace for over six years, and I can say without hesitation that she’s one of the strongest leaders I’ve encountered in retail.
Grace navigated an ever-changing organization with clarity, calm, and an impressive ability to adapt. Over the years, I watched her grow and evolve as a manager, constantly learning, adjusting her style, and genuinely investing in her team’s development.
She has a rare ability to dive deep into analytics one moment, then zoom out to embrace a creative, consumer-first mindset the next—always teaching her team along the way.
Most importantly, Grace truly cares about her people. She leads with integrity, respect, and trust, which is evident in the loyalty and high performance of her teams.
Any organization would be lucky to have her, and I’d work for her again in a heartbeat. Highly recommended.
I had the pleasure of working closely with Grace, and she is one of the most strategic and forward-thinking merchants I’ve partnered with. She brings an expert-level understanding of effective merchandising and consistently applies it in thoughtful, impactful ways.
During her time with at Under Armour, Grace oversaw both retail and ecommerce merchandising, giving her a uniquely well-rounded perspective on how product, storytelling, and customer experience intersect across channels. She never defaulted to “how it’s always been done” and regularly challenged her teammates to think differently, push boundaries, and explore smarter solutions.
Just as important, Grace is an incredibly collaborative teammate. She values diverse perspectives, encourages open dialogue, and creates an environment where ideas are shared freely and constructively. Her combination of strategic rigor, curiosity, and respect for others makes her a trusted partner and a strong leader.
Any team would be lucky to have Grace.
I had the pleasure of partnering closely with Grace during her time at Under Armour, and I can confidently say she is one of the strongest merchandising leaders I’ve worked with across both Ecommerce and Factory House.
What made our partnership so effective was the trust, openness, and shared commitment to doing what was best for the business. We consistently challenged each other’s thinking in thoughtful, constructive ways—always pushing to look around corners, pressure-test assumptions, and arrive at the strongest solutions. That environment of mutual respect not only drove better outcomes, but created a truly positive and high-performing working culture for our teams.
Beyond the results, Grace is a true people leader—thoughtful, empowering, and committed to developing talent. She shows up as a partner, a problem solver, and a steady force through complexity and change.
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside her and would highly recommend her for senior merchandising or enterprise leadership roles. Any organization would be lucky to have her on their leadership team.
Projects I'm working on
Merchandising expertise
without the overhead.
Check out the services available as contract, freelance, or fractional Merchant
