Store General Manager - Wayfair

The Store General Manager of Wayfair will oversee our first branded Wayfair store (150,000+ square feet) in Wilmette, IL. As part of the global Physical Retail leadership team, this key position will be leading the end-to-end operations to introduce customers to our brand through brick and mortar for the first time. We are seeking an experienced leader who can partner with the home office operations team to successfully lead our first large-box store and deliver the tactical execution needed to maintain the highest level of customer service.

You will be accountable for the end-to-end operations and overall performance for the store in Wilmette, leading a team of 5+ capable assistant store managers and 150+ engaged retail associates to deliver on-brand best-in-class service and design experiences for customers. You will lead your teams by monitoring, analyzing, and responding to business metrics that include sales, labor, customer satisfaction, productivity, and safety, among others. You will play a vital role in maintaining a vibrant team culture based on customer obsession, trust, respect, continuous learning and fun.

This role will report directly to the Global Head of Physical Retail. This position is a key member of the global Wayfair Physical Retail leadership team that will help craft the playbook to stand up and scale future stores in North America.

What you’ll do:

• As an authentic brand ambassador for the Wayfair family, lead and create a best in class customer experience by connecting them with the world's biggest and best home online assortment brought to life in our stores. Manage the department to ensure timely, proactive support for customer centric operations.
• Master and continuously teach our brand story and be able to share our brand with polished communication, personal appearance and professionalism.
• Develop leadership talent and consistently export high caliber leaders outside of their home district and into home office positions.
• Manage a team of store leaders, including setting sales goals, relaying expectations, managing performance, providing regular feedback, and supporting career development.
• Build a portfolio of store teams that can ignite an on-brand design space utilizing all of our design and omni-channel tools and services to bring our customer’s design aspirations to life.  
• Delegate and influence to drive exceptional results in your stores, including executing standard operating procedures, identifying areas of improvement, implementing solutions, and providing ongoing feedback to assistant store managers, regional leaders, and corporate stakeholders.
• Address problems that are up or down-stream to their sphere of immediate influence. Proactively helps and tackles challenges outside of their direct control. Formulates and solves complex high-visibility problems and pattern recognition.
• Consistently finds ways to attain desired results and holds the team accountable to do the same.
• Amplify the Wayfair brand family by building a high performing customer centric team, and actively introducing them to all channels - online, app and stores.
• Promote an environment that encourages participation, creativity & learning by sharing best practices & building on the ideas of others within the district, region & company.
• Build management teams to train, motivate & challenge store teams to meet financial goals, proactively resolve problems & enhance performance & customer service.
• Own the customer experience for your stores, maintaining a strong store culture built on customer obsession and Wayfair’s People Principles. This will require spending a significant amount of time on the sales floor. 
• Lead a consultative design based sales culture that brings the omni channel offering to life in stores.
• Create and maintain a culture of engagement by routinely listening to feedback from leaders, associates, and customers, analyzing qualitative and quantitative inputs, and independently implementing solutions to solve problems.
• Recruit & select highly talented people & build succession plans designed to meet brand & company growth goals.
• Foster a culture of exceptional selling & service where associates are empowered to create positive, lasting impressions that make our stores a destination for our product, our expertise & in-store/in-home experiences.
• Develop strategy to drive sales & build customer loyalty through store programs including: clientele, decorating/entertaining/culinary classes, in-store & in-home consultations, events, credit card, wish list, registry.

Qualifications And Special Skills Preferred:

• 15+ years of retail experience, preferably 3-5 of which were spent as a district manager, or similar role with demonstrated ability to partner with corporate teams.
• 7+ years of people management experience.
• 7+ years of site or multi-store management experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, or related area.
• Experience in launching retail locations.
• Home furnishings and/or consultative selling experience.
• Experience in directing store operations and managing large budgets.
• Experience working independently in an ambiguous environment with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to use data and metrics to back up assumptions and implement effective solutions.
• Demonstrated success in problem solving and delivering results.
• Demonstrated ability to attract, hire, and develop high-performing teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Passion for Wayfair and committed to delighting customers.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, talk and hear. The employee frequently is required to handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to sit; regularly climb or balance; and frequently stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must regularly, frequently or occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 lbs.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Essential Functions:

• On-site presence at a physical location.
• Excellent verbal communication skills.
• Excellent active listening skills.
• Excellent sales and customer service skills.
• Extensive knowledge of the merchandise sold.
• Ability to anticipate customers' needs.
• Ability to recommend merchandise to customers.
• Ability to operate or to quickly learn the store’s point-of-sale system.
• Technical acumen to learn necessary software; experience with Google Cloud G Suite, including Docs, Sheets, Slides and forms preferred.
• Ability to process information and merchandise through a computer system and POS register system. 

Competencies:

• Customer obsession
• Building effective teams
• Ensures accountability & execution
• Developing talent
• Collaboration
• Business and financial acumen
• Leading by example
• Plans, aligns & prioritizes
• Communicates effectively
• Organizational agility

Working Hours:

At Wayfair and our family of brands, we strive to provide our employees with a work schedule that protects their work/life balance and takes their scheduling preferences into consideration. Please understand due to the nature of the retail industry, your shift schedule will vary. 

Our store hours are Monday-Saturday 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM, and Sundays 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM. Employee shifts may include an hour before or after store hours and will regularly include weekends and holidays.