How to Hire a Retail Store Manager

Why hire a retail store manager?

A new retail store manager can affect your existing team and bottom line. A great retail store manager hire can help:

• Recruit, train and supervise sales and operations staff
• Manage budgets and merchandise and improve sales
• Handle ordering, receiving and inventory management

What are the ranks of retail store managers?

While there aren’t necessarily ranks of the store manager position, there are management jobs both above and below the store manager, including: 

• Shift managers: Shift managers are responsible for ensuring that the day-to-day tasks for the store, such as cleaning, stocking and customer service, are completed by the team. 
• Assistant store managers: Assistant store managers serve as a bridge between the shift managers and the store manager. They handle day-to-day responsibilities and big-picture tasks. 
• Store managers: Generally, store managers are responsible for taking care of tasks that improve the store and keep it running, such as payroll and bookkeeping, reporting on sales and stock and optimizing the performance of employees. 
• District and regional managers: District and regional managers oversee multiple stores within a specific radius. Their responsibilities include traveling to each store to perform checks, communicating with local management on updated procedures and ensuring the store is operating properly. 

Where to find retail store managers

To find the right retail store manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies: 

• Post a help wanted sign in your window: Posting signs that notify the community about the position may lead to quality candidates who already have experience in the management field. 
• Promote or hire from within: An interested employee may be a good fit for the store management position. Employees often already have knowledge about how the store runs and can be easier to train than outside hires. 
• Network: Building relationships with members of your community and getting the word out can generate interest in available store management positions. 
• Post your job online: Try posting your retail store manager job on Indeed to find and attract quality retail store manager candidates.

What are the ranks of retail store managers?

While there aren’t necessarily ranks of the store manager position, there are management jobs both above and below the store manager, including: 

• Shift managers: Shift managers are responsible for ensuring that the day-to-day tasks for the store, such as cleaning, stocking and customer service, are completed by the team. 
• Assistant store managers: Assistant store managers serve as a bridge between the shift managers and the store manager. They handle day-to-day responsibilities and big-picture tasks. 
• Store managers: Generally, store managers are responsible for taking care of tasks that improve the store and keep it running, such as payroll and bookkeeping, reporting on sales and stock and optimizing the performance of employees. 
• District and regional managers: District and regional managers oversee multiple stores within a specific radius. Their responsibilities include traveling to each store to perform checks, communicating with local management on updated procedures and ensuring the store is operating properly. 

Writing a retail store manager job description

A thoughtful description is important in finding qualified retail store manager candidates. A retail store manager job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your retail store manager job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on retail store manager jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Store manager
• Manager
• Retail management
• Management
• Retail
• Retail store manager
• Retail manager
• Supervisor
• Assistant store manager

Interviewing retail store manager candidates

Strong candidates for retail store manager positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Advertising and promotional efforts to maximize store exposure and increase sales
• Recruiting and training the best sales talent
• Working with vendors to increase floor exposure of their products

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of retail store manager interview questions for examples (with sample answers).