General Manager, Universal Music Shop

Company: Araca Merchandise, L.P.

Title: General Manager – UMusic Shop

Location: In-person - Madison Square Garden UMusic Shop, NYC

Compensation: $65,000-$75,000 Base Pay + Commission + 401k with Match + 3 weeks PTO +Medical, Dental & Vision Benefits!

The Araca Group is a leading, global entertainment & merchandising company that has been

prospering for 28 years thanks to our innovative and collaborative team members.

Araca’s employees act as brand ambassadors, creating live-event and ecommerce

merchandise experiences for some of the world’s top entertainment properties including Wicked, Beetlejuice the Musical, Bluey’s Big Play, Back to the Future the Musical, Hadestown, The Book of Mormon, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Ghostbusters, and many more.

We are in search of a General Manager, UMusic Shop to join our Customer Experience team and to report to our VP of Customer Experience (NYC).

Position Summary

The Universal Music Store, located 2 Penn Plaza, is UMG’s first permanent brick-and-mortar, superfan retail experience in North America. Operated by The Araca Group, the space brings artist campaigns to life while serving as a hub for exclusive artist merchandise, new releases, and live activations, connecting fans directly to the music and artists they love.

The General Manager of UMusic Shop reports to the VP of Customer Experience (NYC). This position leads a store team, including merchandise managers, that conducts experiential retail sales and addresses customer concerns. The position works across multiple departments and stakeholders to facilitate an exemplary retail store and resolve successes and complications with the on-site Customer Experience team.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

● Lead retail store team including two+ managers and approx. 20 sales associates

● Ensure compliance with and training of Araca’s Sales & Service Standards & Guest Artist’s Brand Standards

● Monitor and Report weekly on salesmanship expectations in-store (i.E. ADT, UPT, Traffic Analysis, Goal vs. Actual)

● Monitor & Resolve any service recovery with store team and Araca’s internal customer service team (i.E. Customer Service complaints, facilitating replacement items for in-store customers)

● Participate in select Sales Associate hiring in conjunction with CX, HR & Operations colleagues

● Liaise with retail scheduling manager to facilitate streamlined scheduling as well as supervised employees’ training and compliance in Araca’s scheduling software

● Serve as principal retail representative during Artist Activations/ In-Store Events

● Collaborate with CX, Ops and Inventory Teams to facilitate labor assistance (i.E. additional/reduced sales associates, delivery assistance, store floor set (“flip”) staffing, etc)

● Enhance and encourage profitability through collaboration/recommendation of sales practices, staffing allocations, and floor set adjustments

● Approve weekly payroll timesheets, commission payments, and time-off requests for store sales associates

● Facilitate introduction of direct reports to their interdepartmental and external colleagues

● Facilitate prompt accident reporting, illness reporting, harassment reporting, and disciplinary actions with VP of CX

● Attend interdepartmental meetings that occur on weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and quarterly cadences

● Regularly review Customer Experience and Employee feedback to inform and improve practices and maintain highest possible standards

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong leadership and team management skills
• Exceptional organizational and project management abilities
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced, ever-changing environments
• Creative eye with a strong sense of visual presentation and branding
• Ability to execute visually compelling retail environments
• Excellent communication and relationship management skills
• Solutions-oriented with the ability to handle last-minute challenges

Requirements

• 3-5 years of retail management, event production, or account management experience
• Extensive & current knowledge of the music industry and trends across multiple genres
• Proven experience managing teams in a fast-paced, high-visibility environment
• Strong background in event planning or experiential retail
• Experience working and communicating with multiple stakeholders
• Tech-savvy and adaptable to systems such as NetSuite, Teams and CRM tools
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and other relevant software applications

Missing some of these requirements, but know that you’re the right fit? We encourage you to apply and tell us why.

The Araca Group is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.