Regional Operations Manager

Regional Operations and Development Manager — Whitten Hardware

Memphis, Tennessee | Regional role with multi-store travel across the Mid-South | Full-time

Whitten Hardware is a Memphis institution. Founded in 1929 in Orange Mound, we are one of the longest-running independent hardware operations in the Mid-South. The original store was acquired in 2024 by Sultani Investments and we are now executing the multi-store expansion phase of our five-year plan. We are looking for the operations leader who is going to run this portfolio as it grows and help drive the expansion across Tennessee, North Mississippi, and adjacent sub-markets.

We will be transparent about where we stand. As of this posting, we are operating the flagship Park Avenue store in Orange Mound, with one acquisition in active negotiation and one new build underway from a vanilla shell. Depending on closing timelines and construction schedules, you may walk into a one-store, two-store, or three-store portfolio at your start date. The deals are real and the work is funded, but timing is timing and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Whichever scenario lands, the role is the same in shape: you will run what is operating, integrate or open what is in progress, and lead the development pipeline for the next wave.

Each store is at a different stage of operational maturity, which is part of the work and part of the opportunity. Park Avenue needs continued operational stabilization and systems rebuilding. The acquisition target, assuming it closes, will need full integration into our chart of accounts, POS environment, and Orgill supply chain. The new build needs an opening team, training infrastructure, merchandising plan, and a grand opening playbook. You will report directly to the owner, hold full P&L responsibility across all stores under your supervision, and lead site selection, due diligence, and opening execution for the locations beyond these.

The geographic footprint will spread. Stores beyond the Memphis metro will reach into North Mississippi, including markets like Olive Branch, Southaven, Hernando, Oxford, and Tupelo, and into other Mid-South sub-markets as the right opportunities surface. This is a real road job for the right person. The portfolio grows by entering markets where independent hardware still serves contractors and homeowners better than the big boxes can, and where we can run a tight operation against thin competition.

The first ninety days look different depending on what you walk into. If you start with three stores, your time gets split across all three with heavier weight on whichever location is closest to opening or most operationally distressed. If you start with one and the others come online during your first six months, year one becomes a sequence of stabilize-then-add. Either way, by the end of year one you should have store managers in place at each location, a unified operations playbook, a working monthly P&L review cycle, and a clear development pipeline for the next store. The career arc is regional manager, then director of operations, then vice president of operations or chief operating officer as the store count grows. The title we are starting with reflects the current scope, not the ceiling. We expect to be at five to seven stores within thirty-six months of this hire.

The right person for this job has run multiple stores simultaneously in a disciplined retail environment where systems actually matter. That means district managers, area managers, or regional operations managers from independent hardware, Tractor Supply, Fastenal, Grainger, MSC, Northern Tool, O'Reilly, NAPA, Harbor Freight, or Ace and True Value corporate operations. It also means former multi-store independent hardware owner-operators who sold to a roll-up and are looking for their next thing with real upside. We are open to single-store managers only if they have specific experience integrating an acquired store or opening a new build, because those are operational skills that are difficult to learn on the job at the pace we need.

The work will require all of the following. Direct ownership of ordering, perpetual inventory accuracy, cycle counts and shrink control, price file integrity, vendor relationships, and full monthly P&L performance across all stores. Hiring, onboarding, and developing store managers and assistant managers at each location, with formal training and accountability systems you will build and own. Operational integration of any acquired store including POS conversion, chart of accounts unification, inventory normalization, and staff transition. Opening execution for new build locations including pre-opening staffing, merchandising plan, grand opening marketing, and the first ninety days of post-opening stabilization. Active development work on future locations including market analysis in North Mississippi and other Mid-South sub-markets, broker relationships, lease negotiation support, and acquisition due diligence on target independent stores. Partnership with our internal development team on the Supabase-backed inventory and operations platform that is replacing our legacy POS, because you are the operational voice in how that system gets built and you will use it across the entire portfolio.

What we are looking for in a candidate. Five to seven years or more in retail operations management with direct P&L ownership, with multi-unit experience strongly preferred and required if you do not have specific acquisition or new-build experience. Demonstrated track record of hiring, training, and developing store-level managers who actually deliver results. Technical literacy with POS systems, inventory management software, EDI workflows, and spreadsheet-based financial analysis. Comfort with cost-of-goods analysis, gross margin management by category, vendor rebate program negotiation, and inventory financing dynamics. Hardware, farm and ranch, auto parts, or industrial distribution background strongly preferred. Tennessee or Mississippi residency or willingness to relocate to the Memphis metro or North Mississippi. Willingness to travel between stores and into North Mississippi, West Tennessee and other Mid-South sub-markets on a routine basis, probably thirty to fifty percent of time as the portfolio grows.

What we are offering. Base salary of ninety thousand dollars. Tiered profit share calculated across all stores under your supervision, calibrated against NHPA Cost of Doing Business Study benchmarks, with the structure rewarding both gross margin discipline and net income performance. New stores receive a graduated weighting in your profit share calculation during their ramp-up period, so you are not penalized for opening or integrating locations that have not yet reached maturity. Revenue recovery and growth bonuses that reward same-store sales improvement. A two percent sale participation right vesting over five years, so you participate in the enterprise value you help create across the entire portfolio, not just one store. Health insurance with employer contribution, paid time off, paid holidays, and standard benefits. Total target compensation in year one ranges from roughly one hundred ten thousand at a single-store start scaling to one hundred forty to one hundred eighty thousand if you walk into the full three-store portfolio, with material upside as the portfolio matures and as performance moves into the higher tiers.

What we are not. We are not a chain. We are not a private equity roll-up. We are a privately held independent operator with a long horizon and the capital to build the operation correctly. The owner is technically literate, ships software, and expects the same disciplined thinking from the operations leadership. If you want a corporate environment with a defined ceiling and a fixed playbook handed to you, this is not it. If you want to walk into a real multi-store operation that is in motion, run it, scale it across the Mid-South, and own meaningful upside in what you build, we should talk.

Whitten Hardware is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.