Assistant Store Manager

Barnes & Noble Education; Opelika (AL); On-site; USD 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

DailyPay earned wage access

Employee discounts

401(k) retirement plan

Job summary

BARNES & NOBLE COLLEGE seeks an Assistant Store Manager to partner with the Store Manager in running a campus store, developing teams, and delivering an exceptional customer experience. You will lead daily operations, merchandising, inventory, and campus relationships to drive business results.

The role emphasizes hands-on leadership across all departments, coaching team members, and ensuring a customer-first environment while supporting the store's overall success.

Qualifications

• 2–3 years of retail experience with leadership or supervisory experience preferred.
• Experience with merchandising, inventory management, visual merchandising, and customer service.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and team development skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead daily sales floor operations by delivering exceptional customer service and coaching team members.
• Oversee daily store operations with Manager-on-Duty duties and execute company initiatives.
• Recruit, hire, train, coach, schedule, and develop store team members.
• Drive sales and operations by analyzing trends, managing expenses, and improving performance.
• Build relationships with customers, campus partners, and team members; resolve issues professionally.
• Develop expertise across departments and provide leadership in Course Materials, General Merchandise, Café, and Trade Books.

Skills

Retail leadership

Customer service

Team development

POS systems

Microsoft Office

Education

Aspiring Leader Program completion

Tools

Retail software

Job description

Position Type Full Time

Description

Assistant Store Manager

The Assistant Store Manager helps lead the campus store by partnering with the Store Manager to deliver an exceptional retail experience. By developing teams, driving operational excellence, and supporting the success of the store, our Assistant Store Managers help create meaningful experiences for the campus community.

Education – It’s in Our DNA

Barnes & Noble College is more than a campus bookstore—we're an integral part of the college experience. Our campus stores serve as vibrant hubs of college life and learning, creating retail and learning experiences that engage students, support faculty, and build alumni loyalty. Together, our teams help elevate lives through education.

The Assistant Store Manager is a key member of the store leadership team, partnering with the Store Manager to lead the daily operations of the campus store, deliver an exceptional customer experience, and drive business results. This role provides hands‑on leadership across all aspects of store operations, including team development, merchandising, inventory management, sales performance, and campus relationships.

How You'll Make an Impact

• Lead daily sales floor operations by delivering exceptional customer service, coaching team members, and fostering a customer‑first culture.
• Partner with the Store Manager to oversee daily store operations, serve as Manager-on-Duty as needed, and execute company initiatives while ensuring operational standards, merchandising, inventory accuracy, and store presentation are maintained.
• Recruit, hire, train, coach, schedule, and develop store team members, assigning work, providing ongoing feedback, and fostering a collaborative, high‑performing team.
• Drive sales and operational performance by analyzing business trends, managing controllable expenses, identifying opportunities for improvement, and adapting to changing business needs.
• Build strong relationships with customers, campus partners, and team members while resolving customer concerns with professionalism, sound judgment, and a commitment to exceptional service.
• Develop expertise across all store departments while providing leadership and operational support in areas such as Course Materials, General Merchandise, Café/Convenience, and Trade Books, as assigned.
• Support daily store operations by executing merchandising, inventory management, stock replenishment, order fulfillment, sales transactions, and other operational activities to maintain an organized, customer‑ready environment.
• Champion a clean, safe, and organized store environment by ensuring operational standards are consistently executed across all departments.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• 2–3 years of retail experience, including at least one year of leadership or supervisory experience preferred, or successful completion of the Barnes & Noble College Aspiring Leader Program.
• Experience with retail operations, including merchandising, inventory management, visual merchandising, and customer service.
• Demonstrated leadership, coaching, and team development skills, with the ability to motivate and develop others.
• Strong customer service, communication, interpersonal, and relationship‑building skills.
• Strong organizational, analytical, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced environment.
• Proficiency with retail technology, point‑of‑sale (POS) systems, and Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Physical Demands:

• Frequent movement throughout the store to access merchandise, assist customers, and support daily operations.
• Routine tasks may involve hanging and/or folding merchandise, stocking shelves, unpacking merchandise received, pulling and packing web orders for customers, pulling and packing merchandise to be returned to vendors, transporting merchandise within the store, assisting with the delivery of course materials to students within the store, completing data entry, or a variety of other physical tasks.
• Ability to remain in a stationary position for periods of time.
• Frequent lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling of merchandise.
• Occasional reaching, bending, stooping, kneeling, crouching, and climbing ladders.
• May be required to perform routine housekeeping duties, including dusting, mopping, vacuuming, window cleaning, and trash removal.

How We Elevate Our Employees

Just as we're committed to supporting students, we're equally committed to supporting our employees. We believe your success is our success, which is why we offer a competitive total rewards package for eligible full‑time employees, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401(k)-retirement savings plan, life insurance, commuter benefits, paid time off, paid holidays, and more.

Eligible employees may also enjoy:

• DailyPay earned wage access.
• Generous employee discounts, including course materials and textbooks.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

At Barnes & Noble College, we empower everyone. Our mission is to support students, faculty, and schools, serving as a catalyst to meet the evolving needs of the education system and a new generation of students. That starts with fostering an environment for our employees where diversity and individuality is celebrated.

Barnes & Noble College is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Aff…?

Barnes & Noble College provides reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and employment process. If you need a reasonable accommodation to complete an application or participate in the interview process, please contact [e-mail] .