General Manager - Gardener's Supply Company - Williston, VT

Description

  The Williston General Manager provides overall leadership and accountability for Gardens Alive!’s largest garden center and flagship retail location, including a significant wholesale business. This role is responsible for sales, profitability, talent, merchandising, customer experience, and long-term growth. The General Manager uses business performance data, customer insights, and sound judgment to identify opportunities, set priorities, and turn strategy into action while partnering with Retail and Home Office teams. The Vermont Services division, including delivery and installation, is based at Williston but operates as a separate business function; the General Manager collaborates with Services on shared facilities, communication, and customer experience while maintaining clear ownership boundaries.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

TALENT & LEADERSHIP

Build a high-performing team and develop leaders who deliver strong results through others.

• Recruit, develop, coach, and retain talent, with a focus on succession planning and internal leadership development.

• Set clear expectations, empower leaders, and hold the team accountable for performance, customer service, and company standards.

• Foster a culture of respect, inclusion, ownership, collaboration, expertise, and continuous improvement while leading effectively through change and seasonal demands.

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE & ANALYSIS

Own the financial performance of the Williston business and use data and insight to drive decisions and sustainable growth across retail and wholesale.

• Deliver against sales, gross margin, payroll, expense, inventory, productivity, and profitability goals.

• Analyze business performance, customer insights, and market trends to understand key drivers, identify opportunities, and address underperformance.

• Turn analysis into clear priorities and action that improve sales, margin, productivity, and profitability while balancing near-term results with long-term growth.

MERCHANDISING & INVENTORY

Partner with Retail and Home Office teams to create a compelling, commercially successful assortment and shopping experience.

• Use sales performance, inventory data, customer feedback, and local market knowledge to inform assortment suggestions and merchandising decisions.

• Drive strong product presentation, availability, pricing, seasonal readiness, and effective use of selling space.

• Identify opportunities to improve assortment, inventory productivity, sell-through, margin, and sales, and provide local insight to Buying, Merchandising, and Marketing partners.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Make customer experience a competitive advantage and a driver of loyalty and sales.

• Set the standard for knowledgeable, welcoming, personalized, and solution-oriented service.

• Build a culture where product expertise, genuine engagement, and exceptional service are central to the customer relationship.

• Use customer feedback and business insights to improve the customer journey and ensure the store is clean, safe, well-maintained, visually compelling, and reflective of the Gardens Alive! brand.

Requirements

  • 5+ years of progressive leadership experience in a high-volume, multi-department retail environment, with significant financial, staffing, and operational responsibility.

• Garden center, nursery, horticulture, or related experience.

• Demonstrated ability to analyze business performance and turn insights into action.

• Strong commercial, merchandising, and customer service instincts.

• Proven ability to recruit, develop, coach, and retain talent and build strong leadership teams.

• Sound judgment, problem-solving ability, and strong communication and collaboration skills.

• Ability to manage competing priorities and lead effectively through change.

• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and business reporting systems.

• Ability to work a flexible retail schedule, including weekends, holidays, evenings, and peak seasonal periods.

Physical Requirements

Ability to work throughout indoor and outdoor garden center environments, including varying weather conditions, stand and walk for extended periods, occasionally lift and carry up to 40 pounds, and safely work around equipment, machinery, and active retail operations.

Gardens Alive is an Equal Opportunity Employer