Stop running 3 stores like 3 small businesses.
Start operating a retail chain.
We work with multi-location retail owners (2-8 stores) doing $1M-$15M in annual revenue. Our 12-month engagement builds district P&L visibility, cross-location inventory discipline, store manager hiring systems, and the operational backbone to scale beyond owner-as-everywhere.
9 patterns we see in >70% of multi-location retail
Owner is the de-facto manager of every store
Root cause: No formal store manager role with real authority and P&L ownership. Owner drives between locations daily putting out fires.
What we do: Defined Store Manager role with documented P&L ownership, hiring authority, scheduling authority, and 15-20% bonus tied to store performance. Owner shifts to District Manager / CEO role within 9 months.
No cross-location inventory visibility (each store hoards stock)
Root cause: Stock counts done store-by-store. No real-time POS-driven inventory. Stores can't see what other stores have. Same SKU stockout at store A while store B sits on aged inventory.
What we do: Shopify POS or Lightspeed Retail with full cross-location inventory sync. Weekly inventory transfers based on velocity data. Stockout rate drops from 18% to <5%.
District-level P&L doesn't exist (only consolidated financials)
Root cause: Accountant produces one P&L per month for the whole business. Owner can't see which store is profitable.
What we do: Per-store P&L with full cost allocation (rent, payroll, COGS, marketing) produced monthly. Store managers see their own P&L. Bonus structure tied to store-level contribution margin.
Hiring store managers internally fails repeatedly
Root cause: Best assistant manager promoted into Store Manager role without management training. Drops out within 12 months.
What we do: Formal Store Manager hiring track: defined competency profile, external hiring complement to internal promotion, 90-day onboarding with structured training, mentorship from District/Owner. Retention 24+ months.
Store-level marketing doesn't exist (only chain-wide promotions)
Root cause: All marketing decided centrally. Stores can't run local promotions. Community presence weak.
What we do: Store-level marketing budget ($500-$2K/mo per store) with manager discretion. Local Instagram presence per store. Community partnerships per location. 10-15% revenue lift from local marketing.
Inventory aging at 90+ days across categories
Root cause: No aging discipline. Buyer keeps reordering. Aged inventory ties up working capital.
What we do: Weekly aging report: anything 60+ days goes on markdown ladder (10% / 20% / 40% / clearance). Buyer commits to 30% of OTB to test new SKUs. Aging drops to <20% of inventory.
Store-to-store labor allocation is broken
Root cause: Fixed schedules. High-traffic store understaffed at peak hours, low-traffic store overstaffed. Wages overspent.
What we do: Hourly traffic analysis per store. Flexible labor scheduling tied to forecast traffic. Cross-trained staff who can work multiple stores. Labor % drops 2-4 points.
No central buying discipline (each store buys different)
Root cause: Each store's manager has buying authority. No central category strategy. Inventory chaos.
What we do: Central buying for 80%+ of categories with allocation by store-level velocity. Store-level discretion limited to 15-20% local-flavor SKUs. Vendor consolidation. Better terms.
No business intelligence tools (Excel-based reporting)
Root cause: Store performance reviewed monthly via Excel exports. No real-time visibility into what's selling, where, at what margin.
What we do: BI deployment (Shopify Analytics, Lightspeed Advanced Reporting, or third-party like Glew/Tableau). Real-time dashboards visible to store managers and owner. Decision velocity 10x.
The numbers we hit
| KPI | Market avg | Plan B target | After 12 mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-store contribution margin | 8-15% | 20-28% | 15-25% |
| Inventory turnover (annual) | 3-5x | 6-9x | 5-8x |
| Stockout rate (top 100 SKUs) | 15-22% | <5% | 5-10% |
| Store manager retention (24-month) | 35-50% | 75%+ | 60-80% |
| Owner weekly store-level hours | 40-55 | <15 | 20-30 |
| Aged inventory (90+ days) | 25-35% | <15% | 15-22% |
| Labor as % of revenue | 16-22% | 12-15% | 14-17% |
What working with us looks like
- 01
Month 1: Multi-location + financial audit
We pull 18 months of per-store P&Ls (or rebuild them if they don't exist). Every store's contribution margin, inventory turnover, labor %, traffic patterns. We identify the 1-2 highest-leverage actions for your specific chain.
- 02
Months 2-3: P&L visibility + POS overhaul
Shopify POS or Lightspeed deployed with cross-location inventory sync. Per-store P&L produced monthly. Store managers see their own P&L. Aging discipline and markdown ladder enforced.
- 03
Months 4-6: Manager hiring + buying discipline
Store Manager hiring track formalized. First 1-2 manager hires under new process. Central buying authority established. Vendor consolidation. Store-level marketing budget rolled out.
- 04
Months 7-12: District ops + freedom
Owner shifts to District Manager role. BI dashboards visible to all stakeholders. Labor flex scheduling deployed. Per-store margin lifts 5-10 points. We shift to quarterly cadence and prep for 4th-store expansion (if planned).
Common questions from multi-location retail owners
What size retail operation is this for?−
Specialty retail, apparel, food retail, or all?+
Shopify POS vs Lightspeed vs Square - which do you recommend?+
We're 5 stores and the owner is exhausted. Can you really help?+
What about expansion to 6th, 7th, 8th store?+
Will you help with site selection for new locations?+
What about inventory financing and working capital?+
Will you help with hiring store managers?+
Who does the work?+
What's your fee structure?+
Stop running 3 stores like 3 small businesses. Operate a real retail chain.
30-minute strategy call. We'll diagnose your top 2 levers and tell you if we're a fit. No pitch. No pressure.