Retail Associate Jobs in Illinois (NOW HIRING)

Our Mission:  Providing people with the skills and resources to become self-sufficient through the power of work.

Our Diversity Statement:  LLGI recognizes our employees’ differences in age, disability, veteran status, ethnicity, national origin, language, race, religion, family and marital status, social-economic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and other unique attributes. The individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, unique capabilities, and talent our employees bring to the workplace represent an essential part of our culture.

Job Title: Retail Associate 

Department: Retail operations 

Reports To: General Manager 

Classification: Non-Exempt 

EEO-1 Category: Laborers and Helpers 

Safety Sensitive: No 

Supervises: N/A 

Job Summary 

Our Retail Associates are the face of our mission to our customers and the community. As such, we expect our Retail Associates to work with integrity and a positive attitude at all times. 

Retail Associates are responsible for handling a variety of donated goods, collecting donations at the donor’s door, processing, pricing, stocking, merchandising, performing cash register transactions, and providing recovery on the sales floor. They are required to be customer/donor-focused, operate with minimum supervision, and understand business demands. 

Essential Job Duties 

The Retail Associate will be trained to perform any of the following duties and may be assigned to any store function at any given time. 

1. Provide excellent service to customers and donors 

2. Performs all register transactions accurately 

3. Maintain cash register stock level according to standards 

4. Follow general housekeeping standards 

5. Demonstrate competency in pulling, pricing, rotating, sizing, and hanging clothing

6. Understand and achieve quotas to meet sales goals 

7. Follow sales floor procedures, ensure high-quality output, and take action to correct quality problems

8. Merchandise sales floor when needed 

9. Recovering to maintain sales floor product levels and to keep the store cleaned and organized

10. Perform janitorial and housekeeping duties as needed 

11. Maintain sales floor stock level, 

12. Ensure product is properly merchandised (Sized) and categorized 

13. Follow sales floor procedures, ensure high-quality output, and take action to correct quality problems

14. Perform recovery to maintain sales floor product levels and to keep the store, cleaned and organized

15. Check, accept, unload and process donations from the customer 

16. Accurately maintain daily donation records 

17. Sort and process donations according to the current LLGI Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

18. Unload and load trailers and straight trucks according to standards 

19. Perform opening and closing donation door procedures 

20. Prepare required donation records and reports 

21. Unload, inspect, and sort donated goods following the current LLGI SOP 

22. Grade by using quality specifications, sort into appropriate bins, price according to SOP, and assign to the staging area 

23. Transport stock to and from workstations

24. Effectively manage time to ensure that work is completed efficiently and in accordance with production standards 

25. Assume responsibility and accountability for the completion of job duties to meet production goals

26. Contribute to team success by involving others in work processes, decisions and actions

27. Transport stock to and from workstations, donor doors, and staging areas 

28. Assist processors in swapping full equipment with empty ones to expedite operations

29. Help price furniture and keep them going from door directly to sales floor 

30. Assist in cutting cardboard and filling the cardboard gaylords 

Competencies 

Adaptability Managing Conflict Stress Tolerance Communication Tenacity Urgency

Education, Experience, and Credentials 

Basic math skills 

Understands and follows LLGI policies and procedures. 

Requires the ability to be consistently at work and on time on scheduled work days. 

Embraces the mission, vision, and values of LLGI. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 

Interacts with people with disabilities in a manner that enhances their dignity, privacy, and confidentiality Demonstrates professionalism, integrity and ethical behavior 

Maintains confidentiality of information related to LLGI operations, financial matters, and personnel matters Conveys information clearly through verbal communication 

Works independently while fostering a strong team atmosphere 

Demonstrates sensitivity and the ability to communicate with a diverse population, promotes diversity and inclusion throughout the organization. 

Interacts with people in a manner that enhances their dignity, privacy and confidentiality. Requires a high level of professionalism, integrity, business conduct and ethical behavior. Understands and follows LLGI policies and procedures. 

Requires ability to be consistently at work and on time on scheduled work days. 

Embraces the mission, vision and values of LLGI. 

Physical Requirements 

Lift or move up to fifty (50) pounds of clothing and housewares safely on and off retail shelving fixtures up to ten (10) feet high, clothing racks four (4) feet high, and z-racks six (6) feet high 

Push and pull z-racks holding up to one hundred (100) pieces of clothing and weighing a minimum of 150 pounds The ability to bend and reach into gaylords five (5) feet high to remove clothing and housewares Manual dexterity to fasten and unfasten buttons; snaps and zippers; operate cash registers and tagging guns Stand for long periods throughout the day 

The ability to perform a combination of tasks for extended periods such as stooping, bending, kneeling, crouching, crawling, lifting, reaching, carrying, pushing or pulling objects, to sorting and hanging clothing, and placing housewares on shelves and racks 

Demonstrate visual acuity to evaluate donated items for quality 

The ability to identify smells to evaluate donations for undesirable odors such as mold, must, dust, bodily fluids and/or urine. 

Environmental Conditions 

Work in a light industrial/warehouse environment with exposure to heat and cold 

Subject to exposure to allergens including dirt, dust, mold, metals, rubber, plastics, latex, and pet hair 

Tools and Equipment 

Cash register, credit/debit card machine, bar-code reader, shopping carts, shopping baskets, wheeled spring carts, wheeled deep carts, wheeled z-racks, handheld pricing machine, handheld tagging machine, pallet jacks, basic retail equipment, personal protective equipment, hand trucks, furniture dollies, 4-wheel metal/plastic cages, material lifts, furniture dollies, trash bin/can, bushel carts, trash compactor, trash dumpster, forklifts, stackers (if applicable) 

Regular Contacts 

LLGI Staff Volunteers/Community Service Workers Vendors/Suppliers General Public Donors/Customers Service Participants