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nWell, we finally got round to it - the Store Manager. That hassled inhabitant of the back office and sometimes shop floor, an unsung hero of retail, pulled three ways by the demands of customers, staff and head office. The long-suffering Arkwrightus is perceived - and expected - to wield power and influence without actually having very much. The creativity and ambition of Managers is stymied by the twin horrors of central office diktat and health and safety regulations.
Once a retail veteran who worked his way up from delivery boy or shelf-stacker, the Manager is nowadays as likely to be female, and more likely to be a smartly dressed and ambitious fresh-faced graduate or product of the management training programme.
After just a few months in the job, that fresh-faced demeanour will have been transformed into a pale and haunted complexion, the result of spending too many hours staring at computer screens, poring over invoices or planograms and pacing the neon-lit aisles.
Although they are a familiar sight on the shop floor, Store Managers are never seen actually shopping in their own stores, only other people's.
?The shopping trip is a chance to spy on the opposition. The Arkwrightus's shopping basket is nothing to do with feeding the family and everything to do with The Grocer magazine's "33" price and availability survey. This is an obsession among Managers, each trying to ensure that they equal or, preferably, beat the multiple featured.
But it's never personal. When two Managers meet, they shake hands, acknowledge each other's business strengths and weaknesses, and crow about store performance if appropriate; but they are united in respect and sympathy for a fellow Arkwrightus or Arkwrighta - for only an Arkwrightus can truly appreciate just how hard-working, diligent and underappreciated another Arkwrightus is.
Away from the store the Manager is a dedicated family (wo)man and homebody, dedicated to a tight-knit, close circle. On a rare free evening they enjoy nothing more than a curl up on the sofa with a good DVD or TV show, hopefully with a decent bottle of wine and their other half.
Has the number of customer complaints about the price of goods increased recently?
