RETAIL BUYER & CATEGORY MANAGER

Whitesburg, Kentucky | Full-Time | In-Person + Field Travel Reports to:

CFO YOU KNOW WHAT SELLS. YOU KNOW WHAT IT SHOULD COST. AND YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A CATEGORY PERFORM.

Walk into a convenience store and what do you see? We see thousands of decisions. Which products earned their spot on the shelf? What's selling—and what's just taking up space? Are we paying the right price? Is the retail price right? What's the margin? What should we promote? What is the customer asking for next? And what could 42 stores be doing differently to make more money? If that's how your brain works, we need to talk. Double Kwik is looking for a Retail Buyer & Category Manager who can help us make smarter decisions about what we sell, who we buy it from, what we pay for it, how we merchandise it, and ultimately—how well it performs. This is not a purchasing-agent job where you sit behind a desk and process purchase orders. We want a merchant. A negotiator. An analyst. A relationship builder. A retail operator. Someone who can look at a category and say: Here's what's working. Here's what's not. Here's the opportunity. And here's what we're going to do about it. If you've worked in convenience retail, grocery, fuel, foodservice, dollar/value retail, or another multi-location retail environment , your experience could be exactly what we're looking for.

DOUBLE KWIK

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CLEAN. FRESH. RIGHT. EVERY TIME.

We're Double Kwik. We're a family-led, Eastern Kentucky-grown company with 42 convenience stores and a vision to grow to 50 high-performing locations. But we're more than convenience stores. Our family of businesses includes retail, foodservice, fuel, restaurants, distribution, and other operations that serve communities throughout our region. We are building something for the next generation. That means we're strengthening our systems, developing our people, raising our standards—and getting much more intentional about the products we put in our stores. That's where you come in.

YOUR MISSION

Your job isn't simply to buy things. Your job is to help Double Kwik answer: What should we sell, why should we sell it, what should we pay for it, and how do we make it more profitable? You'll help own the strategy behind our retail categories and supplier relationships. Depending on your experience, that could include categories such as: Packaged beverages Candy Snacks Grocery Tobacco and nicotine General merchandise Automotive Health and beauty Foodservice Dispensed beverages Seasonal merchandise Store supplies You'll work with vendors—but you'll also work with our stores. Because we don't want someone making every decision from a spreadsheet in Whitesburg. We want you in the business. Visit the stores. Walk the aisles. Talk to operations. Look at the coolers. Study the numbers. Notice what customers are buying. Ask why something isn't moving. Challenge an assortment that doesn't make sense. Find opportunities we're missing. Then use the data to make better decisions.

WHAT YOU'LL OWNCATEGORY PERFORMANCE

Know your numbers. You'll monitor sales, gross profit, margin, inventory, turns, movement, pricing, promotional performance, and category trends to understand what's actually happening inside the business. We don't want reports for the sake of reports. We want insights that lead to action.

ASSORTMENT & SKU STRATEGY

More products don't necessarily mean more sales. You'll help us determine: What stays? What goes? What's missing? What's growing? What deserves more space? You'll help create smarter assortments that reflect what our customers actually want to buy.

VENDOR STRATEGY & NEGOTIATION

We want strong vendor partnerships. We also expect strong business results. You'll negotiate: Pricing Terms Rebates Allowances Promotional support Programs Service expectations Contracts You'll know when to push, when to partner, and when it's time to find another solution.

PRICING & MARGIN

You understand that sales don't automatically equal profitability. You'll help evaluate cost, retail pricing, margin, competitive positioning, and promotional strategy so we're protecting both the customer experience and the bottom line.

PROMOTIONS A

promotion should have a reason for existing. You'll work with Marketing, Operations, Foodservice, Finance, and our vendor partners to develop promotions that drive traffic, basket size, trial, loyalty, sales, and profit. Then we'll measure what happened.

INVENTORY

The right product. The right quantity. The right store. The right time. You'll help us improve inventory productivity while reducing overstocks, out-of-stocks, dead inventory, unnecessary duplication, and products that simply aren't earning their shelf space.

STORE INTELLIGENCE

Some of your best information won't come from a spreadsheet. It will come from standing inside a Double Kwik. You'll regularly visit stores and work alongside our Operations team to understand what is actually happening in the field. You'll become one of the people asking: "What are you seeing that we need to know?" And then doing something with the answer.

WE MAY BE LOOKING FOR YOU

IF... You've been a: Category Manager Senior Category Manager Buyer Retail Buyer Merchant Merchandise Manager Category Specialist Procurement Manager Purchasing Manager Replenishment Manager Or you've held a similar role where you were responsible for making products, categories, vendors, and inventory perform. Experience in convenience stores, grocery, fuel, foodservice, dollar/value retail, mass retail, or multi-unit retail is strongly preferred. And if you understand the customer in rural America, Appalachia, Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Tennessee, or West Virginia? Even better.

SHOW US WHAT YOU'VE DONE.

We're less interested in whether you've had the perfect title and more interested in whether you can tell us: "I owned this category." "Here's what the sales were." "Here's what the margin was." "Here's what I changed." "Here's how I worked with the vendor." "Here's what happened to the numbers." That's the conversation we want to have.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

We're looking for meaningful experience in retail buying, category management, merchandising, purchasing, procurement, or a closely related function. A bachelor's degree in business, supply chain, merchandising, procurement, or a related discipline is valuable—but demonstrated retail results matter to us. You should also be comfortable with: Retail/category analytics Excel and data analysis Vendor negotiations Cost and margin analysis Pricing Inventory management Contracts and vendor agreements Retail systems and technology Presenting recommendations to leadership Working cross-functionally with Operations, Marketing, Finance, Foodservice, and store teams Experience with PDI or convenience-retail systems is a plus.

THE KIND OF PERSON WHO WILL THRIVE HERE

You're curious. You walk through a store and ask why. Why is that there? Why are we carrying three of these? Why are we out of that? Why did this promotion work? Why are we paying this much? Why isn't this category growing? Then you go find the answer. You're also: Commercially minded. You understand that every inch of shelf space needs to work. Analytical. You use data to make decisions—not just intuition. Competitive. You want the category to perform. A negotiator. You aren't afraid to have the conversation. Relationship-oriented. Vendors aren't enemies. The best relationships create value for both sides. Operationally curious. You want to understand what's happening inside the stores. Decisive. Analysis eventually has to become action. Accountable. You own your numbers. Calm under pressure. Retail moves fast. You can too—without creating chaos.

And perhaps most importantly:

You think like an owner.

OUR CORE VALUES AREN'T WALL DECORATIONS.

They determine who gets hired, who gets promoted, and who gets to stay. 1.

WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT

Mindset:

I own my attitude, my effort, and my results. 2.

WE SERVE OTHERS FIRST

Mindset:

Service is the reason we exist. 3.

WE DO THE WORK

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EVERY DAY Mindset:

Consistency beats intensity. 4.

WE DO WHAT'S RIGHT

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ALWAYS Mindset:

My integrity is who I am when no one is watching. 5.

WE TAKE PRIDE IN EVERYTHING WE DO

Mindset:

Details matter because people matter. 6.

WE GROW PEOPLE INTO LEADERS

Mindset:

My job is to develop others, not just manage tasks. 7.

WE HONOR THE PAST AND BUILD THE FUTURE

Mindset:

We respect where we came from and take responsibility for where we're going. 8.

WE RUSH WITHOUT BEING IN A HURRY

Mindset:

I move with urgency and control. If these sound like corporate slogans to you, we're probably not your company. If they sound like the way you already work, keep reading.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?

401(k) match up to 4% Health insurance Dental insurance Vision insurance Life insurance Bonus eligibility Paid vacation 10 paid holidays Career growth Leadership development Direct exposure to senior leadership The opportunity to influence purchasing and category strategy across a growing retail organization And something that's harder to put into a benefits bullet: You'll have the opportunity to build. We're growing. We're strengthening our retail disciplines. We're challenging old assumptions. And the person in this seat will have an opportunity to make a measurable impact on how Double Kwik buys, prices, merchandises, promotes, and sells.

BEFORE YOU

APPLY...

Ask yourself:

Can I tell you about a category I made more profitable? Can I show how I've used data to change an assortment, price, promotion, or vendor strategy? Have I negotiated a deal that created measurable value? Do I understand the difference between buying product and actually managing a category? Will I get out of the office and into the stores? Am I comfortable challenging "that's the way we've always done it"? Do I want my work to be visible in the numbers? If you answered YES ... We should probably talk.

READY TO BUILD SOMETHING?

Don't send us an application that simply tells us where you've worked. Tell us what you've improved. Tell us about a category you owned, a vendor deal you negotiated, an assortment you changed, an inventory problem you solved, or a margin you improved. We want people who can point to something and say: "I made that better." If that's you, apply. Double Kwik Clean. Fresh. Right. Every Time.

Pay:

From $60,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k) 401(k) matching Dental insurance Employee assistance program Flexible spending account Health insurance Health savings account Life insurance Paid time off Professional development assistance Vision insurance

Work Location:

In person