Skip to Content

Retail Sales Associate

2 open positions

Company: Cigar Circus

Location: Clearwater, Florida

Pay: $20-$22 per hour

Schedule: Evenings and weekends required; availability across weekdays and select holidays preferred

Reports To: Retail Sales Manager / Store Management

Position Summary

Cigar Circus is looking for an outgoing, dependable Retail Sales Associate to work the sales floor and help customers find the right cigar.

This role is about selling and service. You will spend your shift with customers — learning what they like, making recommendations, and building the kind of relationships that bring people back through the door.

Cigar knowledge is helpful, but a genuine interest in learning the product and a strong customer-service instinct matter more. We can teach the product.

Primary Responsibilities

  • Greet customers, learn their preferences and budget, and recommend products accordingly.
  • Actively sell rather than wait — engage customers on the floor and in the lounge.
  • Identify natural opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, memberships, promotions, and add-on purchases.
  • Build product knowledge continuously: brands, wrappers, strength profiles, sizes, and pairings.
  • Create a welcoming, high-energy experience that makes customers want to stay and return.
  • Operate the POS system and accurately process sales, refunds, discounts, and exchanges.
  • Handle cash accurately and follow all register and cash-handling procedures.
  • Maintain a clean, organized, and inviting showroom, lounge, humidor, checkout area, and customer spaces.
  • Monitor humidor temperature and humidity and report readings outside acceptable range.
  • Restock merchandise and ensure products are properly priced, labeled, and displayed.
  • Rotate stock and inspect product for dryness, damage, or quality concerns.
  • Report low-stock items, inventory discrepancies, damages, and pricing errors to management.
  • Assist with receiving and putting away deliveries when needed.
  • Follow company policies, including tobacco age-verification requirements, without exception.
  • Help prevent theft, unauthorized discounts, and inventory loss.
  • Support store events, promotions, memberships, and special sales initiatives.
  • Escalate customer complaints and unusual situations to management.
  • Assist wherever needed to keep the store operating smoothly.

Customer and Compliance Expectations

The Retail Sales Associate is expected to:

  • Verify identification on every tobacco sale, regardless of apparent age or familiarity with the customer
  • Refuse any sale that cannot be lawfully completed
  • Never sell, transfer, or hold product without a recorded transaction
  • Follow all product-handling procedures to protect merchandise condition
  • Maintain an accurate cash drawer and report discrepancies immediately
  • Escalate rather than improvise when a situation falls outside normal procedure
  • Represent the store professionally in appearance and conduct

Qualifications

  • Must be at least 21 years old.
  • Retail, hospitality, or customer-service experience required.
  • Previous sales experience strongly preferred.
  • Comfortable approaching customers and starting conversations.
  • Understanding of relationship-based selling rather than pressure selling.
  • Reliable, punctual, organized, and trustworthy.
  • Comfortable handling cash and POS transactions.
  • Strong communication skills and a team-first attitude.
  • Willing and able to learn cigar products, brands, and customer preferences.
  • Available to work evenings, weekends, and select holidays.
  • Reliable transportation is required.

Physical Requirements

  • Ability to stand and walk for extended periods.
  • Ability to bend, reach, stock shelves, and perform normal retail duties.
  • Ability to safely lift and carry up to 40 pounds.
  • Ability to work in an environment where smoking is permitted.

Performance Standards

Performance will be evaluated based on:

  • Compliance with age verification and tobacco sales law
  • Sales performance and customer engagement
  • Product knowledge and quality of recommendations
  • Transaction and cash-handling accuracy
  • Showroom, humidor, and lounge condition
  • Attendance and punctuality
  • Workplace safety
  • Communication and teamwork

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for someone who genuinely enjoys people.

The best associates here are curious about the product, comfortable striking up a conversation with a stranger, and able to turn a browsing customer into a regular. You do not need to know cigars on day one — you need to want to learn them, and to care whether the person in front of you leaves happy.

If you like selling, like talking to people, and want to learn a category with real depth to it, we would like to meet you.

Pay: $20-$22 per hour

Cigar Circus is an equal-opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made based on qualifications, performance, and business needs without unlawful discrimination.


Clearwater, United States
Retail Store Team
Full-Time

Retail Sales Manager

2 open positions

Company: Cigar Circus

Location: Clearwater, Florida

Pay: Starting at $25 per hour

Schedule: Flexible availability required, including weekdays, evenings, weekends, and select holidays

Reports To: Owner / Operations Manager

Position Summary

Cigar Circus is looking for an experienced, dependable Retail Sales Manager with strong availability and the flexibility to work where the store needs coverage most.

This is not a position built around one specific shift. We are looking for someone who can help strengthen the overall retail operation, fill scheduling gaps, lead the sales floor, and help develop the rest of the team.

The right candidate will have a strong background in retail sales, upselling, customer service, and employee training. You should be comfortable leading by example, coaching others on the sales floor, and helping turn great customer service into stronger sales.

Cigar knowledge is helpful, but strong retail leadership and sales ability are more important. We can teach the product.

Primary Responsibilities

  • Provide flexible management coverage based on the needs of the store.
  • Lead the sales floor and create a welcoming, high-energy customer experience.
  • Actively sell and recommend products based on customer preferences and budget.
  • Identify natural opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, memberships, promotions, and additional purchases.
  • Help train and coach employees on sales techniques, product presentation, customer interaction, and closing sales.
  • Lead by example and help establish consistent sales expectations across the retail team.
  • Supervise employees and ensure daily responsibilities are completed.
  • Help onboard and train new employees.
  • Handle customer concerns professionally and make appropriate management decisions.
  • Maintain a clean, organized, and inviting showroom, lounge, humidor, checkout area, and customer spaces.
  • Operate the POS system and accurately process transactions, refunds, discounts, and exchanges.
  • Assist with cash handling, register reconciliation, opening, and closing procedures when scheduled.
  • Restock merchandise and ensure products are properly priced, labeled, and displayed.
  • Monitor inventory and communicate low-stock items, discrepancies, damages, or operational concerns.
  • Receive and verify deliveries when needed.
  • Enforce company policies, including tobacco age-verification requirements.
  • Help prevent theft, unauthorized discounts, inventory loss, and cash-handling errors.
  • Support store events, promotions, memberships, and special sales initiatives.
  • Communicate important operational and staffing updates to leadership.
  • Assist wherever needed to keep the store operating smoothly.

Leadership and Compliance Expectations

The Retail Sales Manager is expected to:

  • Verify identification on every tobacco sale and ensure the team does the same
  • Address compliance failures immediately rather than after the shift
  • Never authorize discounts, refunds, or product transfers outside company policy
  • Maintain accurate cash handling and investigate discrepancies rather than absorb them
  • Hold employees to consistent sales and service expectations
  • Develop staff product knowledge on an ongoing basis, not only at hire
  • Communicate proactively with leadership on performance, staffing, and risk

Qualifications

  • Must be at least 21 years old.
  • Strong retail, hospitality, or customer-service experience required.
  • Previous sales experience required.
  • Previous supervisory, management, or team-lead experience strongly preferred.
  • Experience training or coaching employees is strongly preferred.
  • Strong understanding of sales, upselling, and relationship-based customer service.
  • Comfortable giving direction and holding employees accountable.
  • Reliable, punctual, organized, and trustworthy.
  • Able to work independently and make decisions when management is not present.
  • Comfortable handling cash and POS transactions.
  • Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
  • Willing and able to learn cigar products, brands, and customer preferences.
  • Must have open and flexible availability and be willing to help cover different shifts as business needs change.
  • Reliable transportation is required.

Physical Requirements

  • Ability to stand and walk for extended periods.
  • Ability to bend, reach, stock shelves, and perform normal retail duties.
  • Ability to safely lift and carry up to 40 pounds.
  • Ability to work in an environment where smoking is permitted.

Performance Standards

Performance will be evaluated based on:

  • Sales performance and contribution to store revenue
  • Effectiveness coaching and developing the team
  • Compliance with age verification and tobacco regulations
  • Cash-handling and transaction accuracy
  • Inventory accuracy and loss prevention
  • Store condition and presentation
  • Reliability covering shifts as business needs change
  • Communication with leadership and other departments

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for more than someone who can simply manage a shift.

We want someone who can sell, lead, train, and improve the people around them. The ideal candidate understands how to build relationships with customers, increase the value of a sale without being overly aggressive, coach employees to become better salespeople, and step into different areas of the schedule when additional leadership is needed.

If you are a strong salesperson who enjoys developing a team and taking ownership of the customer experience, we would like to meet you.

Pay: Starting at $25 per hour

Cigar Circus is an equal-opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made based on qualifications, performance, and business needs without unlawful discrimination.


Clearwater, United States
Retail Store Team
Full-Time

Cigar Circus is a Clearwater cigar shop and lounge with over 1,500 offerings, serving customers in store and online. We're building a team that knows the product and takes care of our customers.