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Category Manager
Location: Whitesburg, KY, 41858
Company: Hometown Convenience LLC
Department: Retail
Job Status: Full Time
FLSA Status: Salary Exempt
Reports To: COO
Job Type: Director Level
Positions Supervised: Retail
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm (Special circumstances may occur)
Position Summary
Responsible for driving sales, margin growth, and market share across assigned categories. This role oversees product assortment, pricing strategies, promotional planning, and vendor partnerships to ensure the company remains competitive, compliant, and customer-focused. The Category Manager analyzes sales trends, customer buying behaviors, and market conditions to identify opportunities for growth and improve category performance. They collaborate with operations, marketing, and merchandising teams to develop and execute category strategies, manage inventory performance, negotiate with suppliers, monitor product life cycles, and ensure stores are stocked with the right products at the right price. This position is accountable for achieving financial goals, maximizing profitability, and delivering exceptional customer experience while supporting the company's overall business objectives.
Essential Functions
Category Ownership
Own financial performance
Drive sales growth, margin improvement, and unit velocity
Manage category P&L and identify opportunities for growth
Assortment & Product Strategy
Build the optimal product mix
Optimize SKU rationalization (right items, right stores)
Introduce new products and manage lifecycle performance
Pricing & Competitive Strategy
Develop competitive pricing strategies based on market analysis
Monitor competitor pricing and adjust to maintain market position
Balance margin vs. volume
Promotions & Loyalty Integration
Plan and execute high-impact promotions (multi-buy, members pricing and price point, bundles)
Partner with marketing to activate:
In-store signage
App offers (double Kwik Rewards)
Seasonal and vendor-funded promotions
Evaluate promotional ROI and optimize future campaigns
Vendor Management & Negotiation
Lead relationships with key suppliers
Negotiate cost, rebates, scan deals, and promotional funding
Participate in joint business planning and vendor strategy sessions
Bring innovation and new item opportunities into the business
Inventory & Execution
Lead category execution through regular store visits, operational partnerships, and data-driven identification of sales and merchandising opportunities
Develop team capability by training and educating employees on category insights, performance trends, expectations, and best practices
Maintain strong in-stock levels
Reduce out-of-stock and lost sales
Improve inventory turns
Ensure strong in-store execution of sets, displays, and pricing
Compliance
Ensure full compliance with all federal, state, and local tobacco regulations
Partner with operations on age verification and training standards
Monitor product placement and signage to meet legal requirements
Data & Insights
Analyze category performance using KPIs including sales, margin, units, market share, turns, GP$, and shrink
Use customer insights and loyalty data to guide decisions
Conduct regular store visits to evaluate execution and opportunities
Qualifications
3–5+ years of retail, category management, or CPG experience
Experience in convenience retail
Strong analytical and financial acumen
Experience negotiating with vendors and managing supplier relationships
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or related field preferred (or equivalent experience)
Physical Demands
Manual dexterity – able to perform moderately difficult manipulative skills such as typing
Able to adequately and consistently see objects closely as in reading charts, graphs, and computer screens
Able to hear normal sounds with some background noise
Prepared By: Cheyenne Tackett
Date: 6/05/2026
The company has reviewed this job description to ensure that essential functions and basic duties have been included. It is intended to provide guidelines for job expectations and the employee's ability to perform the position described. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all functions, responsibilities, skills and abilities. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate. This document does not represent a contract of employment, and the company reserves the right to change this job description and/or assign tasks for the employee to perform, as the company may deem appropriate.
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