The National Retail Association (NRA) has revealed its finalists for the 2019 National Retail Awards, with Store Manager of the Year receiving the most entries of any category for the first time.
In previous years, the Young Retailer of the Year Award has received the most entries.
NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said the spike in Store Manager entries shows how invested retailers are in their staff.
“Retailers are starting to take note of how important a strong leader is, and investing in their team to ensure that the needs of the customer are being met at the highest level,” Lamb said in a statement.
The Young Retailer of the Year Award is often the most anticipated, with 20 finalists proceeding to the next round of judging this year.
The winner will be flown to New York to visit one of the world’s biggest retail expos, the National Retail Federation Big Show.
Young Retailer of the Year prize sponsor, National Online Retail Association executive director Paul Greenberg, said he hopes that retailers nationwide will take note of the opportunities available.
“We are deeply supportive of retail being chosen as a career.” he said . “Our best and brightest young retailers are the key to harnessing technology-led, customer-centric, global retail opportunities.”
This year the Training Retail Executive Award has been established as an extra category to recognise trainers’ efforts.
Across the board over 40 finalists have been shortlisted including:
Social Responsibility Champion
Customer Experience Champion
Innovation Champion
HR Professional of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award
Training Retail Executive Award
Franchisee of the Year
Store Manager of the Year
Small Retailer of the Year
Medium Retailer of the Year
Large Retailer of the Year
Online Retailer of the Year
Judging will continue for the next two weeks before winners are announced at the gala dinner event at the Star in Sydney on September 4.
It will be preceded by a professional development and networking luncheon for Young Retailer and Store Manager of the Year finalists.
Tickets can be purchased through the NRA website www.nra.net.au
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