Amy Moore is Wild Birds Unlimited’s New Vice President of Retail Concepts

Growing up in Michigan, Amy Moore and her family always loved backyard bird feeding. “As youngsters, it was always part of our regular routine,” said Moore, who recently stepped into her new position as Wild Birds Unlimited’s Vice President of Retail Concepts. Moore has worked with the brand since 1994 when she accepted a position as a field consultant, but her history with Wild Birds Unlimited goes much further back.

As her four children grew up, Moore’s mother, Rose Zack, was looking to transition from being a full-time stay-at-home mom to reentering the workforce. Rose came across a local Wild Birds Unlimited store and took a part-time job as a sales associate. Then, an opportunity arose. That same local Wild Birds Unlimited came up for sale, and Moore’s family purchased it with the intention of her mother acting as primary operator. Amy also worked in the store doing everything from stocking, sales and selecting and buying merchandise for the store. 

While earning her degree in Marketing from Michigan State, Moore was also learning valuable life lessons from her mother. “It was incredible to be able to look up to her as a mentor and watch her successfully operate a business,” said Moore.

In 1994, a job opportunity came up with Wild Birds Unlimited as a field consultant, and Moore jumped at the chance to be a part of the brand. She traveled to Indianapolis to meet with CEO Jim Carpenter and his wife Nancy, interviewed for the position and joined the team as one of two field consultants in the U.S. “I really got to see a lot of the U.S. and Canada in that position and worked very closely with a lot of owners,” said Moore. “Eventually, I narrowed my scope to focus more on new owners in training, and then I was promoted to Director of Retail Operations where I had the privilege to manage the business coach support team.  Their primary role was to deliver ongoing support to our franchisees via ongoing communication and site visits. ”

As Vice President of Retail Concepts, Moore will use her decades of experience to evaluate how the Wild Birds Unlimited franchise organization operates. “We really have two groups of customers we need to support and understand—the franchisees and the retail consumers,” said Moore. “My new role was created to ensure that I am part of developing and executing a retail model that evolves with our customers, and to make sure we are implementing all of the most innovative tools, products and services.”

To Moore, the success of the retail model all hinges on the support that Wild Birds Unlimited offers its franchisees. “For the retail model to work and be successful, it has to make sense for our franchisees. The overarching goal is growth from existing and new franchisees to make sure they’re becoming even more profitable,” said Moore. “We have a lot of incredible initiatives that we are rolling out that will positively benefit both of our customers and keep us as leaders in the specialty retail sector.  We have new marketing platforms that we allow us to create customers journeys and social media communications. We are rolling out a new e-commerce platform into our stores to be more convenient for our customers and implementing a new Point of Sale System that will allow us to collect data so we can study the needs of our customers.”.”

Another one of Moore’s biggest initiatives is to get each store up to brand standards in terms of color specs, fixtures and inventory. All of the changes being implemented are based on direct customer feedback  “We have a very extensive customer survey tool and platform that can tell us if are we delivering according to our service standards” said Moore. “We’re counting smiles. We want to know if the Wild Birds Unlimited experience makes you smile.”

As she moves into her new role, Moore couldn’t be more grateful for the team of leaders who have guided and shaped her career along the way. “The main reason I am in the position I am in now is thanks to an incredible group of mentors, my mom being one of those and many of our owners as well,” said Moore. “Our COO Pat Perkinson has also been a great role model, and my previous retail operations team really pushed me and was a great asset. Chief Development Officer Paul Pickett has also been a huge advocate, friend and mentor that has helped me along the way. I am fortunate that I have been with a company for 26 years that continues to keep me challenged, excited to come to work each day and proud to be a part of this incredible organization.”