Store Manager

Hot Topic; Columbia (SC); On-site; USD 42,000 - 66,000; Full time

Job summary

Hot Topic is seeking a Store Manager to lead our mall storefront, driving sales, recruiting talent, and delivering best-in-class customer service. You will guide the team through coaching, performance management, and engaging with customers across channels to build loyalty and excitement around pop culture.

You will manage operations, analytics, and promotions, ensuring a compelling in-store experience. If you love fandoms and leading teams, join us and help shape the guest journey.

Qualifications

• 1–2 years of retail store management experience with a track record of leading teams.
• Strong communication, recruiting, and operations skills (payroll, reporting, scheduling, merchandising).
• Open to pop culture fandoms and music trends.

Responsibilities

• Ensure store achieves sales targets and comp sales goals.
• Recruit, develop, and retain a collaborative, passionate team.
• Lead customer engagement through social media, store apps, and clienteling.
• Operate with strong structure, delegation, and customer-first practices.
• Monitor shrink, payroll hours, schedules, and external factors affecting business.
• Collaborate with retail leadership and HQ on trends and feedback.
• Run sales reports and use data to guide strategy to hit targets.
• Merchandise the store per planograms and launch promos on time.
• Mentor and recognize staff to build a bench of talented performers.

Skills

Retail store management

Team leadership

Communication

Recruiting

Operations

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

At Hot Topic, we’re passionate about a few things: music, pop culture, and creating the most amazing in-store experience for our customers and employees.

We’re on the search for a Store Manager that will be at the forefront of bringing the fandom to life. You’ll lead the store in achieving store objectives with regards to hitting sales targets, recruiting, development, and performance management. You’ll be a retail maverick that can handle anything that comes your way. You’ll be a believer in developing talent and providing the best customer service in the mall. In short, you’re a superhero.

What You’ll Do

• Ensure that your store achieves the sales plan and/or comp sales goals. It’s not all about the Benjamins, but then it kind of is
• Recruit, develop, and retain a super collaborative and passionate team to run your store alongside you
• You’re the leader of the band, and you love to create buzz and customer engagement through staying connected on social media, store web applications, and clienteling
• Lead an operationally sound business; you’ll bring the right balance of organizational structure, delegation & autonomy, and customer first selling practices
• Keep watch (like the Night’s Watch) on shrink/loss prevention, payroll hours, schedules, and external factors that will affect business
• Collaboratively communicate with retail leadership and HQ partners on trends & customer feedback
• Run sales reports and use data to help guide your strategy to hit sales targets
• You’ve got the keys to the kingdom, and you’re not afraid to use them! You’re willing to adapt to new technologies, communicate company policies & procedures, and control supply ownership (spending only as needed)
• Deliver the goods - you’ll merchandise the store in a compelling way, leveraging planograms as a guide, while launching all promos on time
• Every Fellowship needs a Gandalf! Ensure that you’re continually building a bench of equally talented, passionate staff through mentorship, recognition, and feedback

What You’ll Need

• At least 1-2 years of retail store management experience; you’ve led teams to success and want to experience more of it. You’ll have skills to pay the bills: communication, recruiting, and operations (payroll, reporting, scheduling, merchandising)
• A high school diploma or GED equivalent. If you have a degree, even better
• Roll with the punches! Retail is a fast-changing industry and you like catching curveballs thrown your way
• Open-minded and inquisitive regarding pop culture fandoms & music trends
• The usual retail stuff (with or without reasonable accommodation): able to navigate your way around the store, merchandise product utilizing approved store equipment, and pack and unpack boxes of awesome merch that may weigh up to 50 pounds