Store director vs assistant store manager

The differences between store directors and assistant store managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a store director and an assistant store manager. Additionally, a store director has an average salary of $56,596, which is higher than the $40,759 average annual salary of an assistant store manager.

The top three skills for a store director include payroll, store sales and food safety. The most important skills for an assistant store manager are store management, payroll, and loss prevention.

Store director vs assistant store manager overview

	Store Director	Assistant Store Manager
Yearly salary	$56,596	$40,759
Hourly rate	$27.21	$19.60
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	225,468	428,619
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	6	6

What does a store director do?

A store director is in charge of overseeing overall business operations, ensuring everything is running smoothly. Their responsibilities mostly revolve around setting goals and objectives, devising strategies to increase sales and brand awareness, liaising with key suppliers and vendors, managing the employees and all hiring processes, supervising the inventory, and monitoring the progress of sales. Furthermore, as a store director, it is essential to lead and encourage the staff to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

What does an assistant store manager do?

Assistant store managers are considered second-in-command to store managers. They help oversee operations and take over when the manager is unavailable. Assistant store managers may be assigned to focus on certain aspects of store operations such as marketing, finance, human resources, or quality control. They should be familiar with running the store and with all the other tasks needed to be done. Assistant store managers should have decision-making skills, interpersonal skills, and business acumen. They should also be able to do the work usually done on the operations floor in case of a lack of manpower.

Store director vs assistant store manager salary

Store directors and assistant store managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Store Director	Assistant Store Manager
Average salary	$56,596	$40,759
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $75,000	Between $32,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Delaware	Connecticut
Best paying company	Tory Burch	US Foods
Best paying industry	Retail	Manufacturing

Differences between store director and assistant store manager education

There are a few differences between a store director and an assistant store manager in terms of educational background:

	Store Director	Assistant Store Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Store director vs assistant store manager demographics

Here are the differences between store directors' and assistant store managers' demographics:

	Store Director	Assistant Store Manager
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 71.9% Female, 28.1%	Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between store director and assistant store manager duties and responsibilities

Store director example responsibilities.

Maintain, control, and achieve all KPI set weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly.
Develop and implement strategic merchandising plans to achieve revenue objectives and reduce expenditures while ensuring payroll remains within budget goals.
Ensure safety and cleanliness of work / customer environment, arranging necessary repairs and upkeep of internal and external property.
Maintain excellent store conditions through dynamic product presentation, organization and store cleanliness.
Participate in the development and implementation of a company wide labor scheduler payroll budgeting system base on actual work content.
Develop innovative marketing materials and create free weekly seminars in basic pet discipline development skills to increase training program enrollment.

Assistant store manager example responsibilities.

Develop and implement operational strategies utilizing less payroll expenses and allot hour usage to accomplish logistical and operational excellence.
Execute all associate training in customer service, all operational and POS training, inventory, safety and sales floor operations.
Maintain store appearance and cleanliness by utilizing delegation with focus on time management.
Process and track payroll on a weekly basis using Kronos software.
Maintain appropriate staffing metrics with available store payroll via Kronos system.
Wash walls and equipment; use ladders when require in work assignments.

Store director vs assistant store manager skills

Common store director skills

Payroll, 12%
Store Sales, 9%
Food Safety, 7%
Customer Service, 4%
Sales Growth, 4%
Cleanliness, 4%

Common assistant store manager skills

Store Management, 8%
Payroll, 8%
Loss Prevention, 6%
Sales Floor, 5%
Customer Inquiries, 4%
Taking Care, 4%

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Store Director
Store Director vs Assistant Store Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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