Your Research Guide to a Career in Retail
By Rick Jones, vice president of sales at RecruitMilitary and a former master gunnery sergeant in the United States Marine Corps
I encourage job seekers to use this guide to learn about the Retail Trade sector of the economy and the job opportunities in that sector.
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a part of the United States Department of Labor, describes the Retail Trade sector of the economy on “Industries at a Glance”. That page provides various statistics, including employment, unemployment, and openings, hires, and separations; employment by occupation; earnings and hours; earnings by occupation; employer compensation costs; numbers of establishments; and productivity.
The Retail Trade sector has NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes of 44 and 45. For an explanation of NAICS codes, see “Your Guide to Industrial and Occupational Employment Statistics”. The sector has 12 subsectors, and “Industries at a Glance” has a page for each:
OCCUPATIONS
Another BLS publication, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, has a chapter on Retail Sales Workers. The chapter has sections on what retail sales worker do on the job, the work environment, how to become a retail sales worker, pay, job outlook, similar occupations, and contacts for more information. The Handbook also has a chapter on Cashiers.
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Industry Associations are another great source of information on the Retail sector. Below is a sampling of association websites:
American Booksellers Association
American Specialty Toy Retailing Association
Council of State Retail Associations
Electronic Retailing Association
Entertainment Merchants Association
National Association of College Stores
National Automobile Dealers Association
North American Home Furnishings Association
National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association
North American Retail Hardware Association
The Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing
Vacuum and Sewing Dealers Trade Association
MAGAZINE RACK
To learn about the issues, the players, and the general buzz in retailing, I suggest that you read trade magazines and view media websites on the subject. Most of the magazines listed below are available both in print and online. The name of the publisher follows the name of the magazine or site.
Auto Dealer Monthly Bobit Business Media
Beverage World Macfadden Communications Group, LLC
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News NBDA Services, Inc.
CE Pro (tech-related products) EH Publishing
Chain Store Age Lebhar Friedman, Inc.
Convenience Store News Stagnito Media
Drug Store News Lebhar Friedman, Inc.
Food & Drink International Phoenix Media Corporation
Furniture World Furniture World Magazine
Grocery Headquarters Macfadden Communications Group, LLC
Hardware and Building Supply Dealer Lebhar Friedman, Inc.
Internet Retailer Vertical Web Media
Pet Business Macfadden Communications Group, LLC
Progressive Grocer Stagnito Media
Retail Leader Stagnito Media
Retail Merchandiser Phoenix Media Corporation
Retailing Today Lebhar Friedman, Inc.
RetailWire RetailWire LLC
Specialty Retail Report International Council of Shopping Centers
Supermarket News Penton
Technology Integrator NAPCO Media
The Gourmet Retailer Stagnito Media
The Paint Dealer The Paint Dealer
TotalRetail NAPCO Media
Wireless Dealer Magazine Wireless Dealer Magazine
By Rick Jones
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