Overseeing sales
Overseeing sales
In retail management, you tend to wear lots of hats. Just ask Vickie White, who has worked at Ann Crittenden Hallmark on Battleground Avenue for the past four years.
One minute she is getting the store ready to be opened for the day, another she is assisting customers with purchases, and the next she is piecing together a display of targeted products for an upcoming holiday.
White tackles clerical duties and sells and merchandises products — the positioning of items on the floor to maximize appeal and salablility. She is also responsible for hiring new personnel and training managers at other Hallmark locations.
These myriad tasks make up a multi-tasking, ever-necessary role in retail sales: the store manager. White feels it’s an overlooked occupation in today’s job market.
“It isn’t 9-to-5 work, so you have to be disciplined, but it’s a job that never gets boring,” she says.
White, one of 12 employees at the Battleground location, believes the small size of the store allows for more intimate contact with customers. “We project a friendly atmosphere and we have the ability to give one-on-one attention here,” she says.
Felix McElveen has similar views. A manager with Belk department store at Pennrose Mall in Reidsville, he believes in being hands-on at work, where he oversees a staff of 17 to 22 full- and part-time employees. He enjoys going out on the sales floor with associates so he can communicate ideas to help drive more sales.
“I like a small-store atmosphere and I think Belk is a good company to work for, too,” says McElveen, who has been in retail since 1971.
According to the Employment Security Commission, the average wage of a retail store manager in North Carolina is $15.81 an hour. The ESC classifies managers as those who “directly supervise sales workers in a retail establishment or department.” In addition to managing a staff of employees, other tasks may include purchasing, budgeting and accounting.
How they got started
In 1992, McElveen joined Belk as a manager trainee, and advises anyone considering retail management to earn a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and then apply for a training program offered by a retailer. Completing Belk’s Executive Trainee Program, for example, can lead to jobs in middle and upper store management or in merchandising, according to Belk’s Web site.
A good manager must be able to communicate goals effectively in order to motivate sales associates, McElveen says.
His first crack at retail was working for Wilson’s men’s specialty store in Charlotte while he was earning a bachelor’s degree in economics at UNC-Charlotte. McElveen moved to Greensboro in 1986 to open and manage a Wilson’s store at Four Seasons Towne Centre, where he was employed for four years.
White got her got her start in the industry as a part-time cashier while working toward a bachelor’s degree in English in the early 1970s. She was later chosen as a manager trainee at J.C. Penney, where she oversaw merchandising in the women’s department. She also worked for other retailers over the years.
“I chose the profession and it’s been good to me,” White says. “It’s rewarding being paid for something you enjoy doing.”
She recommends that anyone interested in management receive a formal education, which can better qualify one to become a retail manager. A business-related degree increases your odds. For White, retail management is a reliable way to earn money, but also has other perks such as significant discounts at the store as well as health coverage — benefits not to be taken for granted in today’s economic climate.
McElveen also touts retail as a good first or second job for students and retirees.Working at Belk, McElveen says that retail management is hard work, but it’s been very rewarding for him.
“You need to enjoy fashion in general,” he says. “... You can make retail a career if it’s something you enjoy.”
Felix McElveen, store manager with Belk in Reidsville
Felix McElveen, store manager with Belk in Reidsville, assists sales associate Joy Satterfield with merchandising. Satterfield has worked with the store for 11 years.
Nancy Sidelinger
