Category Growth Manager - Multicultural

Beyond grocery, our diverse retail operations include liquor stores, convenience stores, fuel locations, pharmacies, and franchise businesses such as Ace Hardware, Country Floral, Caribou Coffee, Dunn Brothers Coffee, Erbert and Gerbert's, Godfather's Pizza, and Pet Supplies Plus. You’ll serve as a key subject matter expert for multicultural merchandising—identifying emerging consumer trends, developing relationships with established and emerging brands, partnering with diverse-owned businesses, and connecting with communities to better understand what our guests want and need.

Overview:

At Coborn’s, Inc., we believe our stores should reflect the communities we serve. As our Multicultural Category Manager, you’ll have an exciting opportunity to shape how we connect with increasingly diverse guests by bringing authentic, culturally relevant products, brands, and experiences to our stores.

 

In this role, you’ll combine category management, merchandising strategy, product sourcing, supplier development, and community insights to build assortments that meet the evolving needs of our guests while driving sales, profitability, market share, and category growth.

 

You’ll serve as a key subject matter expert for multicultural merchandising—identifying emerging consumer trends, developing relationships with established and emerging brands, partnering with diverse-owned businesses, and connecting with communities to better understand what our guests want and need.

 

If you’re passionate about retail, food, culture, community, and discovering products that create meaningful connections with guests, this is an opportunity to make a visible impact across our employee-owned organization.

 

What You’ll Do

• Lead Multicultural Category Strategy: Develop and execute category and merchandising strategies that drive sales, profitability, market share, and guest satisfaction while responding to evolving consumer trends and community needs.

• Build Relevant Assortments: Create authentic, culturally relevant assortments using guest insights, demographics, market trends, competitive intelligence, and community feedback to identify gaps and growth opportunities.

• Source Products & Develop Suppliers: Identify and build partnerships with multicultural brands, emerging suppliers, local businesses, and diverse-owned businesses while leading negotiations and managing supplier performance.

• Drive Category Performance: Own financial plans and key performance indicators, including sales, margin, inventory, and shrink, using data and insights to continuously improve results.

• Shape Pricing & Promotions: Partner with Pricing, Marketing, and Operations to develop competitive pricing, promotional strategies, and culturally relevant programs that strengthen guest engagement.

• Bring Strategies to Life: Collaborate with Space Management, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing, and store leadership to execute assortments, resets, product launches, seasonal programs, and localized merchandising strategies.

• Connect With Our Communities: Build relationships with community leaders, organizations, guests, and local partners to better understand evolving needs and identify opportunities to strengthen our connection with the communities we serve.

• Lead & Influence: Serve as a multicultural merchandising and category subject matter expert, communicating strategies and insights across the organization while coaching and developing assigned team members.

 

What's In It For Me?

Our remarkable employees are at the heart of everything we do. At Coborn’s, we’re committed to creating a supportive and rewarding workplace—one that offers a vibrant, team-oriented environment, ongoing career growth, and meaningful benefits. As an employee-owned company, we believe in investing in our people and their futures.

 

We’re proud to offer a variety of benefits to both our full-time and part-time employees, including: 

 

• Medical & Dental insurance with Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options
• Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) – yes, we're employee-owned! Our team members benefit from the success of the company through this company-sponsored benefit!
• 401(k) plan options – we also match up to 20% of the first 5% contributed
• Competitive Paid Time Off (PTO/Vacation)
• 10% employee discount on grocery items, with additional franchise-specific discounts available at company-owned Ace Hardware, Caribou Coffee, Erbert and Gerbert's, and Pet Supplies Plus locations.
• Additional Voluntary Benefits – such as vision, accident and critical illness insurances
• Adoption Reimbursement, Paid Family Caregiver Leave, as well as company-sponsored Term Life Insurance
• Get Paid Daily with DailyPay – for employees who would like access to their pay before payday, we offer this great benefit!
• Paid Military Leave
• Employee recognition programs with monetary rewards, including in-store vouchers, years of service, and employee of the month
• Employee Health & Wellness Programs, Challenges and Resources – to assist our team members in living a life of wellbeing!
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – unlimited phone access to legal, financial, and work-life services and up to five free in-person counseling sessions, per situation/issue, per year
• Access to a national discount marketplace for travel, electronics, auto/home insurance, entertainment and more!
• Tools, resources and opportunities for career growth and development
• Education benefits including tuition discount and scholarship programs

Requirements:

Education and Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, Marketing, Supply Chain, Retail Management, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.

• Five or more years of progressive experience in category management, merchandising, buying, sourcing, retail operations, or a related field. Experience within grocery, food retail, consumer products, or a multi-location retail environment is preferred.

• Demonstrated experience developing and executing category strategies, including assortment, pricing, promotions, and/or product sourcing.

• Experience leveraging consumer, sales, market, competitive, and demographic insights to identify opportunities and support strategic business decisions.

• Proven experience building supplier relationships and negotiating product costs, terms, promotional support, and other business agreements.

 

We believe that building a team of people with different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences and perspectives inspires fresh thinking and opens us up to new possibilities. We are an EEO/AA Employer - All qualified individuals, including minorities, females, veterans and individuals with disabilities, are encouraged to apply.

What's In It For Me:

Our remarkable employees are at the heart of everything we do. At Coborn’s, we’re committed to creating a supportive and rewarding workplace—one that offers a vibrant, team-oriented environment, ongoing career growth, and meaningful benefits. As an employee-owned company, we believe in investing in our people and their futures.

We’re proud to offer a variety of benefits to both our full-time and part-time employees, including: 

 

• 10% employee discount on grocery items, with additional franchise-specific discounts available at company owned Ace Hardware, Caribou Coffee, Erbert and Gerbert’s, and Pet Supplies Plus locations.
• Get Paid Daily with DailyPay – for employees who would like access to their pay before payday, we offer this great benefit!
• Paid Time Off (PTO/Vacation)
• Paid Floating Holidays & time and a half (1 ½) paid for hours worked on a company-recognized holiday!
• Sunday Premium Pay – an extra $1 per hour for hours worked on Sundays (some exclusions apply)
• Paid Military Leave
• Employee recognition programs with monetary rewards including in-store vouchers, years of service, and employee of the month
• Employee Health & Wellness Programs, Challenges and Resources – to assist our team members in living a life of wellbeing!
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – unlimited phone access to legal, financial, and work-life services and up to five free in-person counseling sessions, per situation/issue, per year
• Access to a national discount marketplace for travel, electronics, auto/home insurance , entertainment and more!
• Tools, resources and opportunities for career growth and development
• 401(k) plan options – we also match up to 20% of the first 5% contributed
• Participation in our Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) – yes, we’re employee-owned! Our team members benefit from the success of the company through this company-sponsored benefit!
• Education benefits including tuition discount and scholarship programs
• Additional Voluntary Benefits – such as vision, accident and critical illness insurances

 

If you’re hired or promoted into a full-time position with our company, you will also be eligible for: Medical & Dental Insurance, Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), Tuition Reimbursement, Adoption Reimbursement, Paid Family Caregiver Leave, as well as company-sponsored Term Life Insurance, Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance, and Short-Term & Long-Term Disability Insurance!

Pay Range: USD $82,000.00 - USD $130,000.00 /Yr. Company Introduction:

Build a career with a company that invests in people, strengthens communities, and creates opportunities to grow. At Coborn's, Inc., we're more than a grocery retailer. We're an employee-owned company where team members are empowered to make a difference, contribute to our success, and help shape the future of our organization. For more than 100 years, we've been committed to serving our guests, supporting local communities, and helping our team members thrive. We've also been certified as a Great Place To Work® for three consecutive years, a recognition earned entirely through employee feedback about their experience working at Coborn's, Inc.

 

As one of the Midwest's largest independent grocery retailers, Coborn's, Inc. operates 77 grocery stores across six states under the:

• Coborn's
• Cash Wise Foods
• Marketplace Foods
• Hornbacher's
• Tadych's Marketplace Foods
• Sullivan's Foods
• Kessler's Food & Grocery

banners. Guided by our vision to inspire happiness, healthy living, and simplicity, we continue to grow while staying true to our local roots and community-focused values. With more than 135 business units across our organization, team members have opportunities to learn, grow, and build meaningful careers.

 

Beyond grocery, our diverse retail operations include liquor stores, convenience stores, fuel locations, pharmacies, and franchise businesses such as Ace Hardware, Country Floral, Caribou Coffee, Dunn Brothers Coffee, Erbert and Gerbert's, Godfather's Pizza, and Pet Supplies Plus. Supporting it all are our own central bakery, fresh foods commissary, and grocery warehouse and distribution center. From neighborhood stores to behind-the-scenes operations, every team member plays a role in helping us serve our guests and strengthen the communities we call home.