Managing Director of The Local Store
Volume One, Eau Claire, WI, United States
Seeking: Managing Director of TheLocalStore (Volume One)
205 N. Dewey St., Downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Volume One and The Local Store are seeking an experienced and ambitious individual to take the reins of our successful local retail operation (in collaboration with local ownership), to manage the established trajectory of quality community service, creative products, excellent merchandising, unique experiences, and healthy business growth.
ABOUT THE STORE The Local Store is a hometown favorite shopping experience in downtown Eau Claire featuring local -and Wisconsin-themed gifts, apparel, art prints, glassware, foodstuffs, beer/wine/spirits, outdoor gear, garden goods, books, music, and more. Products evoke a sense of place in the Chippewa Valley, and many lines are produced by and/or for the people of this community. Located since 2012 in nearly 3,000 square feet on the main floor of a historic 1880’s building, the award-winning shop has been featured on/in NPR, Midwest Living Magazine, Travel Wisconsin, TwinCities.com, The Star Tribune, Style Blueprint, and many more regional media and blogs. Not only a retail store, the space also serves as the depot for community tours from the Chippewa River Trolley Co, offers e-bike and e-scooter rentals in the summer, and features a main-floor gallery and event space that plays host to dozens of events every year including book readings, film screenings, concerts, meetings, and talks of all kinds. Many artists, writers, businesses, and creators of the Chippewa Valley use The Local Store as a retail outlet for their goods, and Volume One's own creative team creates many of the products on the floor. Wherever possible, original product lines are often designed, sourced, and printed in the Chippewa Valley. The shop enjoys a 4.7 star rating from more than 400 Google reviews and consistent high marks from locals and visitors alike.
ABOUT THE ROLE & OPPORTUNITY Managing The Local Store is a dynamic and exciting opportunity for individuals with the retail management skills needed to excel in a highly community-involved and beloved business. The role provides a unique opportunity to participate in impactful community initiatives & local cultural happenings, while being surrounded by many others who share the same passion to improve the place they live. Day-to-day you’ll enjoy ample chances to connect with local businesses, non-profits, makers, and others to create new projects and collaborations and to benefit from the professional growth created through these relationships and outcomes. Here in our high-energy environment, you will meet hundreds of locals who love this community, as well as visitors from all over the world who through your help come to learn what makes Eau Claire a great place to be.
As the leader of the retail side of Volume One’s overall operations, the store manager has close at hand an entire creative media team most retail stores do not have regular access to, including on-site designers, web programmers, photographers/videographers, copywriters, event creators, and more. Leveraging these talents, along with the experience and vision of ownership, the store manager has a full toolbox to bring to the opportunities and challenges that arise in a lively and growing business, and to collaborate on long-term developmental plans with the owner.
This is a full-time position focused largely on a Monday thru Friday schedule, though some weekend work is required with seasonal happenings. Oftentimes these may be offset by time off at other times of the week to create a healthy and sustainable approach to the role. Overall, it’s a 40-45 hour/week management role, though the very busy holiday season necessitates some elevation of those hours on a seasonal basis, including required holiday season Saturdays to manage the store’s busiest days.
DUTIES INCLUDE Duties include managing all aspects of The Local Store such as product selection & purchasing, vendor account management, collaboration on marketing & social media, planning for store changes and expansions, as well as training, overseeing and scheduling the store’s staff.
A great eye for aesthetics is valuable to create a warm and welcoming visual and cultural environment as well as to execute design for new product development/creation, promotions, and strategies to implement innovative success.
Other seasonal duties include supervising and sustaining adjacent operations such as collaborating with other key staff on seasonal e-bike/e-scooter rentals from our store, assisting with the in-store aspects of our tour trolley rides (April - December) for which the store serves as the ticketing and boarding counter, and facilitating larger scale bulk corporate gifting projects.
Some small scale event planning in our gallery space and basic bookkeeping (along with our full time bookkeeper) and supplier operations also play a role.
CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS
3+ years of experience with retail management operations and/or 3+ years of experience with office or project management.
Educational background in some combination of business, management, marketing, retail and/or inventory control. Other backgrounds additionally considered.
Experience with and understanding of retail POS operations: transactions and tenders, consignment vs. wholesale purchasing, inventory management, creating/receiving purchase orders, sales reporting, etc. Familiarity with Lightspeed POS is a plus.
Proficient in creating engaging content on social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc.
Familiarity with Chippewa Valley culture and community happenings, as well as previous awareness of Volume One’s community endeavors, and/or engagement with the Local Store brand is a plus.
PAY & BENEFITS This is a salaried position (with potential store-performance bonuses) in a bright and interesting office space in downtown Eau Claire. Enjoy a range of benefits including up to four weeks paid vacation, eight paid holidays, health and dental insurance contributions, retirement contributions, partially paid maternity/paternity leave, family gym memberships, community stipends, community service days, deep store discounts and more. We’re located in a walkable district just feet from the bike trail, Eau Claire River, Phoenix Park, the library, theaters, and several restaurants, retailers, and community assets.
TRANSITION & TRAINING Our current manager, Chloe VanDerLinden, has been at the helm of The Local Store for roughly two great years, after a 10-year span from our previous manager. She’s now moving to Florida due to a change in her family, but will be available for remote trainings and assistance throughout the transition into a new manager.
TIMELINE Applications will be considered on a rotating basis as they arrive, with a priority deadline of March 27. Our goal is to have someone in the position and training by mid-April 2026, though this timeline may be flexible (including sooner or later).
Interested? Humming along since 2002, Volume One is a magazine, an event & video production company, & a retail store based in Eau Claire, WI.
(715) 552-0457
Volume One & The Local Store 205 N. Dewey St. (downtown) Eau Claire, WI 54703
PUBLISHER / EDITOR / OWNER Nick Meyer
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Volume One and The Local Store are seeking an experienced and ambitious individual to take the reins of our successful local retail operation (in collaboration with local ownership), to manage the established trajectory of quality community service, creative products, excellent merchandising, unique experiences, and healthy business growth.
ABOUT THE STORE The Local Store is a hometown favorite shopping experience in downtown Eau Claire featuring local -and Wisconsin-themed gifts, apparel, art prints, glassware, foodstuffs, beer/wine/spirits, outdoor gear, garden goods, books, music, and more. Products evoke a sense of place in the Chippewa Valley, and many lines are produced by and/or for the people of this community. Located since 2012 in nearly 3,000 square feet on the main floor of a historic 1880’s building, the award-winning shop has been featured on/in NPR, Midwest Living Magazine, Travel Wisconsin, TwinCities.com, The Star Tribune, Style Blueprint, and many more regional media and blogs. Not only a retail store, the space also serves as the depot for community tours from the Chippewa River Trolley Co, offers e-bike and e-scooter rentals in the summer, and features a main-floor gallery and event space that plays host to dozens of events every year including book readings, film screenings, concerts, meetings, and talks of all kinds. Many artists, writers, businesses, and creators of the Chippewa Valley use The Local Store as a retail outlet for their goods, and Volume One's own creative team creates many of the products on the floor. Wherever possible, original product lines are often designed, sourced, and printed in the Chippewa Valley. The shop enjoys a 4.7 star rating from more than 400 Google reviews and consistent high marks from locals and visitors alike.
ABOUT THE ROLE & OPPORTUNITY Managing The Local Store is a dynamic and exciting opportunity for individuals with the retail management skills needed to excel in a highly community-involved and beloved business. The role provides a unique opportunity to participate in impactful community initiatives & local cultural happenings, while being surrounded by many others who share the same passion to improve the place they live. Day-to-day you’ll enjoy ample chances to connect with local businesses, non-profits, makers, and others to create new projects and collaborations and to benefit from the professional growth created through these relationships and outcomes. Here in our high-energy environment, you will meet hundreds of locals who love this community, as well as visitors from all over the world who through your help come to learn what makes Eau Claire a great place to be.
As the leader of the retail side of Volume One’s overall operations, the store manager has close at hand an entire creative media team most retail stores do not have regular access to, including on-site designers, web programmers, photographers/videographers, copywriters, event creators, and more. Leveraging these talents, along with the experience and vision of ownership, the store manager has a full toolbox to bring to the opportunities and challenges that arise in a lively and growing business, and to collaborate on long-term developmental plans with the owner.
This is a full-time position focused largely on a Monday thru Friday schedule, though some weekend work is required with seasonal happenings. Oftentimes these may be offset by time off at other times of the week to create a healthy and sustainable approach to the role. Overall, it’s a 40-45 hour/week management role, though the very busy holiday season necessitates some elevation of those hours on a seasonal basis, including required holiday season Saturdays to manage the store’s busiest days.
DUTIES INCLUDE Duties include managing all aspects of The Local Store such as product selection & purchasing, vendor account management, collaboration on marketing & social media, planning for store changes and expansions, as well as training, overseeing and scheduling the store’s staff.
A great eye for aesthetics is valuable to create a warm and welcoming visual and cultural environment as well as to execute design for new product development/creation, promotions, and strategies to implement innovative success.
Other seasonal duties include supervising and sustaining adjacent operations such as collaborating with other key staff on seasonal e-bike/e-scooter rentals from our store, assisting with the in-store aspects of our tour trolley rides (April - December) for which the store serves as the ticketing and boarding counter, and facilitating larger scale bulk corporate gifting projects.
Some small scale event planning in our gallery space and basic bookkeeping (along with our full time bookkeeper) and supplier operations also play a role.
CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS
3+ years of experience with retail management operations and/or 3+ years of experience with office or project management.
Educational background in some combination of business, management, marketing, retail and/or inventory control. Other backgrounds additionally considered.
Experience with and understanding of retail POS operations: transactions and tenders, consignment vs. wholesale purchasing, inventory management, creating/receiving purchase orders, sales reporting, etc. Familiarity with Lightspeed POS is a plus.
Proficient in creating engaging content on social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc.
Familiarity with Chippewa Valley culture and community happenings, as well as previous awareness of Volume One’s community endeavors, and/or engagement with the Local Store brand is a plus.
PAY & BENEFITS This is a salaried position (with potential store-performance bonuses) in a bright and interesting office space in downtown Eau Claire. Enjoy a range of benefits including up to four weeks paid vacation, eight paid holidays, health and dental insurance contributions, retirement contributions, partially paid maternity/paternity leave, family gym memberships, community stipends, community service days, deep store discounts and more. We’re located in a walkable district just feet from the bike trail, Eau Claire River, Phoenix Park, the library, theaters, and several restaurants, retailers, and community assets.
TRANSITION & TRAINING Our current manager, Chloe VanDerLinden, has been at the helm of The Local Store for roughly two great years, after a 10-year span from our previous manager. She’s now moving to Florida due to a change in her family, but will be available for remote trainings and assistance throughout the transition into a new manager.
TIMELINE Applications will be considered on a rotating basis as they arrive, with a priority deadline of March 27. Our goal is to have someone in the position and training by mid-April 2026, though this timeline may be flexible (including sooner or later).
Interested? Humming along since 2002, Volume One is a magazine, an event & video production company, & a retail store based in Eau Claire, WI.
(715) 552-0457
Volume One & The Local Store 205 N. Dewey St. (downtown) Eau Claire, WI 54703
PUBLISHER / EDITOR / OWNER Nick Meyer
#J-18808-Ljbffr