The old saying that “retail is theater” certainly rings true—whether you’re merchandising a window display to tell a brand story, or hosting a customer event, retail requires creativity...

In the business management classic Good to Great, author Jim Collins highlights the importance of “getting the right people on the bus.” As any store manager can tell you, hiring the right associates is only the first hurdle.

Store managers are the unsung heroes of retail. Just consider the various hats a store manager wears on any given day: head of operations, sales manager, chief talent officer, loss prevention specialist, asset protection analyst, visual merchandiser, customer care representative… the list goes on.

Heather Lemoine is an Engagement Manager at Blueday, as well as a former retail Store Manager and early adopter of the Blueday, shares her experience using Blueday in the field.

With job gains on the rise for the last 91 consecutive months, and unemployment at its lowest point since 2000, hiring competition is stiff. Younger workers, traditionally the core demographic for entry-level retail jobs, are getting snapped up by other sectors.

Blueday CEO Graeme Grant sat down with the Millennium Alliance team to discuss trends in retail store labor productivity. Here are some excerpts from their conversation.

Many of America’s biggest retailers, under assault from Amazon.com Inc., have been slashing staff even faster than they have been closing stores, a dynamic that has left fewer clerks and longer checkout lines at remaining locations.