A retail chief executive officer chooses where a store chain's money goes: which stores to open, remodel or close, how much to spend on the website, and how much inventory to buy. In a specialty chain with 10 to 15 locations, the CEO is usually the head merchant too and signs off on the season's big product bets.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
We're looking for a Chief Executive Officer to set the direction for our stores and online business. You'll decide where the company invests: new stores, remodels, the website and inventory. At our size the CEO is usually the head merchant too, so you'll sign off on the big assortment decisions. You'll build and lead the leadership team.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Set the long-range plan: which markets to enter, which stores to open, remodel or close, and how much to invest in the online store.
Approve the annual budget, the open-to-buy and capital spending with the Chief Financial Officer.
Lead merchandise strategy with the buyers: which categories to grow or cut, and how we price against competitors.
Hire, coach and hold accountable the COO, CFO, buyers, E-commerce Manager and Marketing Manager.
Own key vendor relationships and join negotiations for exclusive products, payment terms and large orders.
Approve new leases, renewals and store closures after reviewing sales forecasts and lease terms with the COO and CFO.
Report results to the owners or board and the bank, and decide how profits are reinvested.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review yesterday's sales by store and online against plan.
Meet with the COO, CFO and buyers on weekly results, inventory levels and open issues.
Walk stores to see the product, the displays and the customer experience firsthand.
Review new vendor lines, samples and pricing with the buyers before large orders are placed.
Talk with landlords, lenders and key vendors about deals in progress.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Total company sales growth: [your target].
Comparable store sales: [your target].
EBITDA: [your target].
Online share of total sales: [your target].
Leadership team retention: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[10+] years of retail leadership, including [5+] years running a multi-store company or a large region.
A record of growing sales and profit across stores and an online channel.
Deep knowledge of retail math: open-to-buy, margin, markdowns, sell-through and inventory turn.
Experience negotiating store leases, vendor terms and bank financing.
Bachelor's degree in business or retail management, or equal experience.
6. Preferred Experience
A merchant background: has bought or planned product in specialty retail.
Has opened new stores and closed stores that weren't working.
Has grown an online store alongside physical stores, including buy online, pick up in store.
Experience reporting to a board, private owners or outside investors.
7. Physical Requirements
Walk store floors, stockrooms and the warehouse during visits.
Travel by car or plane to stores, trade shows and vendor meetings.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Works from the central office and spends regular time in stores.
Travel [several days a month] to stores, markets and trade shows.
Longer hours in the holiday season and around store openings.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new chief executive officer gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
A store chain's big bets are product, leases and the website, often in the same quarter. The CEO places them and lives with them for years.
You're often the head merchant
In a chain this size, the product is the brand, and the CEO usually has the final say on it. That means sitting in on buying meetings, judging samples, and deciding which categories get more floor space and which get cut. A CEO who can't read a sell-through report or a markdown plan ends up leaning on the buyers for every call.
Comparable sales show whether the stores are healthy
New stores can hide a weak chain. Comparable store sales count only stores that were open in both periods, so they show whether the stores you already have are growing. The CEO reports comps next to total growth for the owners and the bank, and has to explain any gap between the two.
Every new store is a lease you live with
Opening a store means signing a lease that runs for years and paying for a build-out you can't take with you. Closing one early can mean rent on an empty space or a payment to get out. So the CEO studies the sales forecast, the rent and the lease terms with the COO and CFO before saying yes, and watches weak stores long before renewal.
Stores and the website chase the same shopper
Census figures show online sales growing faster than retail as a whole. The CEO sets the budget for the website, photos and shipping, and decides how to credit a store when a shopper buys online, then picks up or returns the item there. Get that rule wrong and store teams start steering shoppers away from the site. Source: U.S. Census Bureau: Quarterly retail e-commerce sales.
Vendors decide what you get to sell
A chain of a dozen stores can't win on volume, so it wins on relationships. The CEO works the key vendors for exclusive products, early access to hot items and better payment terms, often in person at markets and trade shows. Losing a vendor's top line can hurt a season more than losing a store.
How much retail chief executive officers make
The closest BLS group for retail chief executive officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for retailers earned a median of $129,980 a year ($62.49 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 4,190 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for retail stores.
On top of salary, pay the bonus on the full fiscal year, once holiday results and the January markdowns are booked. Weigh comparable store sales next to EBITDA so new stores alone can't earn it.
Retail stores
$129,980$129,980 median Middle half $84,770–$264,440 10th–90th $60,740–$412,110
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Retail stores
$60,740
$84,770
$129,980
$264,440
$412,110
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
These figures cover all retail. Pay differs by store type, so check what local stores like yours pay. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Retail math: open-to-buy, margin, markdowns, sell-through and inventory turn
An eye for product, and the nerve to cut a category that isn't selling
Has run a multi-store company or a large region through good years and bad
Has negotiated store leases, vendor terms and bank financing
Picks strong leaders for finance, operations and online, and keeps them
Reports results plainly to owners, a board or a lender
Teach these on the job
Your customer, your price points and who you compete with in each market
The history of each store and the terms of its lease
How your locations differ: malls, main streets, outlet centers
Which vendor lines drive each store's sales
How the owners want to hear news, good and bad
Mornings start with yesterday's sales by store and online, pulled from the POS and the e-commerce platform; the week brings the open-to-buy review, and the month brings the financial package. In interviews, ask which report a candidate opens first each day; the answer tells you whether they think like a merchant or an operator.
Leave the blanks empty until the budget is done. Each target should come out of the same plan the owners and the bank see.
Total company sales growth
Add store and online sales for the period and compare with last year. Split out what new stores added, so owners see growth from openings apart from growth in existing stores.
Comparable store sales
Sales from stores open in both periods, compared year over year. Agree before the year starts how remodels, relocations and online orders picked up in store count, and keep that rule steady.
EBITDA
Operating profit with depreciation and amortization added back, before interest and taxes, from the monthly statements. Judge it over the full year as well as by quarter, because the holiday swings the result.
Online share of total sales
Website sales divided by total company sales. Settle first where buy-online-pick-up-in-store orders land, so stores and the online team aren't fighting over the same sale.
Leadership team retention
Which of the CEO's direct reports stayed through the year. When one leaves, the owners or board should hear the reason, not just the count.
Career path
BuyerBuilds assortments and learns open-to-buy, margin and markdowns.
Head of merchandisingLeads the buyers and planners for every category.
Chief Executive OfficerSets the plan, picks the stores and signs off on the big buys.
CEO of a larger chainRuns a bigger specialty retailer, often one backed by investors.
How is a retail CEO's job different from the COO's?
The split is what to sell versus how it gets to the shopper. The CEO works with buyers, vendors, owners and the bank on the assortment, new markets and online spending. The COO runs what moves product and keeps stores open: distribution, systems, real estate, loss prevention and HR, and leads the Director of Store Operations and the Warehouse Manager. If your current leader covers both, decide which half this hire takes over.
How much does a retail chief executive officer make?
Chief executives who work for retailers earned a median of $129,980 a year ($62.49 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $84,770 and $264,440 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Should a retail CEO come from merchandising or operations?
The template prefers a merchant, because product usually decides a specialty chain's year. A simple test: walk a store with each finalist. Merchants talk about the assortment, prices and what's missing from the wall. Operators talk about staffing, the stockroom and the line at the register. Both views matter, so pick the one your leadership team lacks today.
Does a retail CEO need e-commerce experience?
They need to have run a business where the website and the stores share customers and stock. They don't need to run ad campaigns or the site; the E-commerce Manager does that. Ask how they handled buy online, pick up in store, returns across channels, and how stores got credit for online sales.
Does a retail CEO need to have opened stores?
The template lists it as preferred, along with closing stores that weren't working. Openings teach site choice, lease terms and how long a new store takes to find its customers. Closings teach discipline. Ask each candidate about a store that failed: what the forecast said, what really happened, and how they got out of the lease.
Where do retail CEOs usually come from?
Many top executives are promoted inside their own company, and some companies would rather hire from outside, the BLS says. In specialty retail, look at heads of merchandising and COOs at larger chains, and at your own COO. A CEO from outside retail will need a strong merchant beside them.
