Store Manager

Company Description

WHO WE ARE 

Indigo is a physical and digital place inspired by and filled with books, ideas, beautifully designed lifestyle products, and the creative people who help make it all happen. We believe in real books, living life fully and generously, being kind to each other and to the environment, and that stories — big and little — connect us. Indigo is our customer's happy place — for joyful moments of discovery and to connect with people who share their passion for reading, their belief in ideas, and their commitment to making the world a better and more beautiful place. 

MISSION

The Store Manager translates Indigo’s strategic priorities into entrepreneurial, locally relevant execution that strengthens community connection and brand affinity while delivering a customer-centric experience that drives sales, engagement, and profitability. Using strong systems thinking, this role ensures store processes and routines are both efficient and effective across customer experience, visual merchandising, product flow, scheduling, loss prevention, and talent development. The Store Manager is a key driver of retail results, fostering a high-performance, customer-focused environment where employees build their capabilities, contribute to team success, and bring the Indigo brand to life through meaningful business outcomes.

Job Description

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES – what the work is

• Leads the day-to-day translation of Indigo's strategic priorities into focused, store-level execution, leveraging My Performance Scorecard process to align objectives, drive disciplined action, and deliver measurable results.
• Anticipates and mitigates risks to execution, identifying systemic barriers and influences cross-functional partners to enable consistent delivery of the intended customer, employee and operational experience.
• Ensures the Indigo Experience and R.E.A.D. customer service model are consistently brought to life through strong Sales Generation Leadership (SGL) practices, including active, in-the-moment coaching to reinforce behaviours, elevate execution, and drive customer engagement and results.
• Ensures consistent delivery of Indigo’s brand standards through disciplined visual merchandising execution, leveraging the VMA process to reinforce presentation, drive consistency, and enhance the customer experience.
• Drives effective and efficient store operations through regular review of operational performance, data and results, using insights to coach the team, reinforce accountability, and continuously improve execution and results.
• Owns the scheduling process, ensuring effective deployment of labour to deliver a consistent customer experience while optimizing productivity and operational efficiency.
• Delivers profitability through disciplined resource management and leadership of targeted shortage and shrink action plans, mitigating inventory risk while protecting sales and operational performance.
• Applies strong business acumen to identify opportunities, assess performance, and take action to improve store results.
• Recruits develops, and retains a high-performing store leadership and CER team through structured onboarding, coaching, and ongoing development.
• Leads talent review, calibration, and succession planning within the store, identifying high-potential employees and creating targeted development opportunities.
• Identifies and addresses performance, conduct, and engagement risks, taking appropriate action to maintain a strong, values-aligned team.
• Drives employee engagement through strong employee relations, meaningful action planning, and the creation of a collaborative, inclusive team environment.
• Ensures the health and safety of employees and customers, maintaining full compliance with all provincial policies, procedures, and standards.
• Models and embeds Indigo’s guiding principles and values, fostering a positive, accountable, and high-performance team culture.

Reports to: General Manager

Manager Once Removed: Regional Director

KEY PERFORMANCE METRICS

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Net sales and profitability
• Employee engagement score
• Operational KPIs
• Store engagement score

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Internal:

• Store employees
• Store leadership team
• Regional Human Resources Manager
• Regional Loss Prevention Manager
• Regional Visual Merchandising Manager
• External:
  • Customers

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience in specialty retail or a comparable customer-focused environment, including experience leading leaders and managing high-performing teams
• College degree preferred or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience
• Demonstrated ability to lead a customer first culture, delivery exceptional employee and customer experiences that drive engagement and business performance.
• Adaptable and resilient leader who can lead calmly through change, model a growth mindset, and foster a collaborative, inclusive and accountable team culture
• Strong business acumen with ability to translate enterprise priorities and sales results into focused store-level plans, routines, and measurable actions that drive customer, employee, and business outcomes
• Data-driven and technology-enabled, with the ability to interpret reports, simplify insights into clear priorities, embed available tools into store routines, and use data to influence action and improve outcomes
• Strong systems-thinking capability, with the ability to connect customer experience, product flow, visual merchandising, scheduling, loss prevention, and talent routines to deliver consistent store performance
• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills with the ability to navigate complex situations, including escalated customer and employee matters
• Demonstrated operational discipline with the ability to execute consistently and deliver results in a fast-paced retail environment while balancing competing priorities.
• Sound judgment and employee relations maturity, with the ability to address performance, conduct, and engagement issues in a fair, respectful, values-aligned and solutions-oriented manner
• Alignment with Indigo's values as reflected in the Guiding Principles
• A passion for Indigo's mission and delivering a meaningful customer and team experience
• Ability to work a flexible schedule including evenings, weekends and holidays.
• Ability to safely lift up to 40 lbs using appropriate equipment and techniques.
• Ability to be mobile on the sales floor for extended periods and safely lift medium to large items (up to 40 lbs) using appropriate equipment and techniques
• Occasional business travel may be required both within market and North America

Additional Information

Indigo uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with certain aspects of the hiring process, such as screening and assessments. These tools support our team but do not replace human judgment. We are committed to using AI responsibly, fairly, and in compliance with applicable employment and anti-discrimination laws. We regularly review these tools to help prevent bias or discrimination.

At Indigo, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility are core to our values. We integrate these principles into our training, policies, and hiring practices and continuously evolve to reflect the needs of the communities we serve. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and lived experiences, including but not limited to individuals who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour), members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and persons with disabilities. If you require an accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact Human Resources at talent@indigo.ca.

We respect your privacy throughout the recruitment process. Our Candidate Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you apply for a role with Indigo, and the choices available to you.

This posting is for a current opportunity within Indigo.