Salary Range: $50,000 per year
Job Description: The Visitor Experience & Retail Manager is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the Corn Palace Gift Shop, ensuring a seamless and engaging shopping experience for visitors. This role involves retail management, inventory control, employee coordination, and marketing efforts to enhance sales and visitor engagement. The manager will also assist with maintaining the outdoor courtyard area and supporting promotional events. Reporting to the Tourism Retail Director, this role will work across multiple teams, including retail, marketing, and visitor engagement. Responsibilities include retail operations, inventory management, team leadership, courtyard maintenance, marketing, and promotions. Includes light clerical duties.
Key Responsibilities:
Retail Operations & Inventory Management:• Oversee day-to-day operations of the Corn Palace Gift Shop, ensuring efficient and professional service.
• Manage cash handling, drawer counting, and point-of-sale operations.
• Assist with inventory control, including ordering, stocking, and tracking merchandise.
• Coordinate online sales and fulfillment of website orders.
• Ensure a visually appealing retail space through effective merchandising and display strategies.
Team Leadership & Scheduling:
• Coordinate scheduling and daily duties for the year-round retail team.
• Assist in hiring, training, and supervising seasonal retail employees.
• Foster a positive and productive work environment, ensuring excellent customer service.
Courtyard Maintenance & Facility Coordination:
• Oversee the upkeep of the outdoor courtyard area, including mowing, cleaning, and light maintenance.
• Ensure the gift shop and surrounding areas remain clean, organized, and welcoming for visitors.
Marketing & Promotions:
• Lead marketing efforts, including social media promotions and engagement.
• Support retail-focused promotions and special events to drive sales and foot traffic.
• Collaborate with the Tourism Retail Director to develop strategies for increasing visibility and revenue.
Visitor & Member Engagement:
• Develop programs to enhance the visitor experience by working with local hotels, restaurants, and attractions.
• Build partnerships with local businesses and organizations to offer tourism packages, promotions, or discounts to visitors.
• Analyze visitor data, member feedback, and event performance to adjust marketing strategies for retail and visitor engagement.
Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement:
• Work closely with the Tourism Retail Director to ensure that retail efforts align with the broader goals of the Chamber of Commerce and Development Corporation.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with retail stakeholders, local businesses, and city officials to foster collaboration for retail and visitor engagement initiatives.
• Actively promote the work and benefits of the Chamber of Commerce at regional tourism conferences and events, ensuring that the organization is recognized for its contributions to the community.
Budget & Reporting:
• Oversee the retail budget, ensuring cost-effective practices that benefit the Chamber of Commerce.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly reports detailing the impact of retail initiatives, visitor engagement metrics, and recommendations for future strategies that support the goals of the Chamber of Commerce and Development Corporation.
Additional Responsibilities:
• Promote the Chamber of Commerce and Development Corporation in retail marketing efforts, ensuring their members and initiatives are visible and supported.
• Support economic development initiatives by coordinating with the Chamber of Commerce and Development Corporation teams to showcase Mitchell’s growth potential and attract new business to the community.
• Collaborate with other departments to ensure cohesive messaging across all promotional channels for retail and Chamber of Commerce and Development Corporation activities.
• Acts as liaison between event/meeting planner and service businesses; offers suggestions and assistance planning entertainment, tours, shopping, spouse and children's programs, and other attractions; solicits, collects, and files information for speaker/entertainment files.
• Works with groups to help promote meetings/events. Sends information about upcoming meetings, conventions, and events to local newspaper and visitor center.
• Coordinates and arranges volunteers for athletic events, convention assistance (registration), stuffing baggies for conventions, assembling name badges, assembling programs, etc.
• Answers and routes incoming telephone calls as needed.
• Greets and assists clients/visitors.
• Maintains orderliness of Corn Palace Visitors area, stocks brochure rack in reception area with promotional publications and brochures.
• Performs general clerical activities as needed including postage, and shipping tasks.
• Other duties assigned as needed.
Qualifications:
• Retail management or supervisory experience preferred.
• Strong organizational and multitasking skills.
• Experience with inventory control, cash handling, and point-of-sale systems.
• Basic knowledge of social media marketing and e-commerce.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills.
• Ability to perform light maintenance and outdoor upkeep tasks as needed.
• Willing to work weekends and evenings, when required.
Physical Requirements:
The Visitor Experience & Retail Manager role is an active, hands-on position that requires frequent movement, lifting, and display setup. This position requires physical stamina and the ability to adapt to a fast-paced retail environment while ensuring a welcoming experience for visitors. Individuals performing the above-mentioned responsibilities must be able to see, hear, and speak. They must possess manual dexterity to perform physical activities. This role involves repetitive motions with the wrists, hands, and fingers.
The individual must be able to:
- Lift and carry boxes, merchandise, and supplies weighing up to 50 pounds regularly.
- Stand, walk, bend, kneel, and reach overhead for extended periods.
- Push, pull, and move carts or shelving units as needed to maintain and rearrange store displays.
- Perform tasks requiring manual dexterity, including cash handling, typing, and stocking.
- Work in both indoor and outdoor environments, including maintaining the courtyard area and assisting with event setup.
This job will be open until it is filled.
Please send/email your resume to:
Kimberly Lofgren at kimberly@mitchellsd.com
Mitchell Chamber and Development Corporation:
https://www.mitchellchamber.com/
Phone: 605-996-1140
Address:
601 North Main Street
Mitchell, SD 57301
