Store Manager
About The Position
Since 1978, Big Tool Box has been the family-owned hardware haven where “all the expertise is under one roof,” putting customer service at the heart of everything it does. Spanning five powerhouse categories—Ace Hardware and Tools for every nut, bolt, and power tool imaginable; the Rental & Repair Center to keep projects moving without breaking the bank; the Highlands Garden Center bursting with plants, soil, and green-thumb guidance; the Lawn & Sprinkler Center for flawless outdoor irrigation and landscape solutions; and the Grillin and Chillin Center stocked with premium BBQ grills and all the accessories for perfect backyard cookouts—Big Tool Box remains the go-to destination for contractors, gardeners, grill masters, and DIYers alike. Job Summary Lead the entire store as the top on-site leader of a locally owned Ace Hardware location, driving sales, profitability, customer experience, and operational excellence across all departments. Own full responsibility for ensuring the store is always retail ready — clean, organized, fully merchandised, planogram-compliant, and visually compelling — while maintaining exceptional in-stock levels so customers can find what they need every time they visit. Own full P&L responsibility, team development, inventory integrity, and the consistent delivery of Ace’s “Helpful Hardware Folks” culture. Full-time salaried leadership role with full keyholder authority, budget ownership, and direct accountability to the store owner/operator. Praise worthy customer service is our goal in every customer interaction.
Requirements
- 5+ years of progressive retail management experience, including multi-department or full-store leadership.
- Prior experience in hardware, home improvement, or garden center retail strongly preferred.
- Proven track record of driving sales growth, controlling costs, reducing shrink, maintaining high in-stock levels, and developing high-performing teams.
- Strong P&L ownership and financial acumen.
- Exceptional leadership and coaching skills with a relentless focus on retail readiness and in-stock performance.
- Deep understanding of retail operations, inventory control, merchandising, and customer experience.
- Excellent communication, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities under pressure.
- Proficiency with retail systems (POS, inventory, scheduling, reporting tools).
- Ability to walk and stand for extended periods and move throughout the entire store (including outdoor Garden Center).
- Lift and carry up to 50 lbs as needed.
- Flexible schedule including early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and peak seasonal periods.
- Full keyholder status with highest-level override and cash office authority.
- Strong alignment with Big Tool Box core values of helpfulness, integrity, teamwork, and community focus.
Nice To Haves
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Retail Management, or related field preferred; equivalent experience accepted.
Responsibilities
- Own the store’s sales, gross margin, labor, shrink, and expense performance against budget and prior-year results.
- Analyze weekly and monthly P&L, sales trends, and inventory reports; develop and execute action plans to hit or exceed targets.
- Set clear expectations and accountability for all department leaders with a relentless focus on retail readiness and in-stock performance.
- Ensure the entire store (Hardware, Garden Center, Rental/Repair, and front-end) is retail ready at all times: fully stocked, faced, clean, organized, and planogram-compliant.
- Drive high in-stock levels through disciplined cycle counting, timely freight processing, accurate ordering, and aggressive follow-up on out-of-stocks.
- Personally walk the store daily to identify empty shelves, incomplete displays, and presentation gaps — then immediately coach and correct.
- Hold the team accountable for pulling product from the backroom same-day and keeping endcaps, sidekicks, and promotional displays full and impactful.
- Hire, train, coach, schedule, and develop the entire store team.
- Write or approve schedules, conduct performance reviews, manage progressive discipline, and build a strong succession pipeline.
- Create a culture where every associate understands that full shelves and a retail-ready store are non-negotiable.
- Personally model impeccable customer service behaviors every day.
- Continuously monitor service levels and ensure customers never leave empty-handed due to stockouts or poor presentation.
- Coach the team to proactively solve “we’re out of that” situations with rain checks, substitutions, special orders, or will-call solutions.
- Oversee Hardware, Garden Center (including Live Goods), Receiving/Warehouse, Rental/Repair, and Cashier operations for accuracy, efficiency, and presentation standards.
- Ensure high inventory accuracy, strong planogram compliance, timely freight processing, and excellent in-stock levels across all categories.
- Drive merchandising excellence, seasonal resets, ad execution, and promotional displays that look full and ready to sell.
- Manage store expenses, labor hours, and shrink reduction initiatives.
- Oversee receiving accuracy, vendor credit recovery, cycle counts, physical inventories, and BOPIS fulfillment.
- Ensure compliance with all safety, cash-handling, propane, pesticide, and regulatory requirements.
- All other duties as assigned by store management
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
