Dallas Morning News seeks a retail reporter

The Dallas Morning News seeks an ambitious and versatile retail reporter to cover one of America’s fastest-growing regions and one of the nation’s most important retail markets.

Dallas-Fort Worth is among the most competitive grocery markets in the country. It’s Walmart’s largest U.S. metro market. Dallas is a shopping destination for the region and beyond.

National leaders such as Amazon and Target use D-FW as a test market for new products and a launching point for technology innovations. It’s home to luxury retailer Neiman Marcus and the headquarters for national chains JCPenney, Container Store, GameStop, Michaels and more.

But it isn’t just chains. Dallas has eclectic pockets of neighborhood shopping districts, popular local brands, emerging brands and a major wholesale destination for retailers at the Dallas Market Center. The area has world-class shopping centers such as Highland Park Village and NorthPark Center, but also underserved neighborhoods where equity and access are concerns. Accountability is an important part of this beat. North Texas also has pockets of ethnic retailing serving growing Southeast Asian, Hispanic and Middle Eastern communities.

Texas’ population just crossed the 30 million mark and demographers predict it’ll grow to nearly 40 million by 2036 — the equivalent of adding a city the size of Austin every year for the next decade. That explosive growth touches every facet of life for those living, working and playing here, as well as the soon-to-arrive transplants. The impact of such growth raises serious questions about access, equity and resources.

For business journalists, there’s no better place in the nation to be stationed. North Texas is home to 8 million people and demographers expect it to get to 12 million people by 2036. It is also home to two dozen Fortune 500 companies, nearly 80 publicly traded companies with more than $1 billion in revenue, two major airports and two of the industry’s biggest airlines, five major league sports teams and thousands of firms representing every segment of the economy.

We’re looking for a reporter who can connect and dissect these topics into urgent, aggressive and revelatory journalism.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working with data and records, have a strong understanding of social media and digital metrics, and have a passion for growing our online audience.

A strong retail reporter must be able to: 

• Keep up with major news from national retailers based here: Neiman Marcus, JCPenney, Michaels, GameStop, Sally Beauty, 7-Eleven, Upbound Group (Rent-A-Center), The Container Store, LTK and Fossil.
• Cover store openings and closings with the context of why and what it means.
• Keep up with other markets and follow the largest U.S. retailers with a view of both national trends and the impact on local commerce.
• Dissect how the supply chain influences consumers, businesses and the economy.
• Report on weather disasters and other events like the pandemic that have an immediate impact on how people can access necessities.

Responsibilities and duties:

• Plan for both short-term coverage and long-term projects with an eye toward features/enterprise, distinctive journalism that differentiates The Dallas Morning News from a list of competitors.
• Generate content ideas that include an emphasis on the diversity of voices, stories, subjects and perspectives.
• Follow closely and develop insights into analytics.
• Report fairly, accurately and thoroughly, with sharp, compelling writing.
• Take a hands-on approach to breaking news across digital platforms and display a willingness to create content as needed.
• Show strong organizational skills and the ability to multitask on deadline.
• Display exceptional news judgment with ability to recognize digital potential of stories that will resonate with our audience.

Skills

• Use social media for newsgathering and audience development
• Basic photo editing
• Comfort with fast-paced incremental storytelling (e.g., producing social media updates, updating online stories)
• Basic data literacy and analysis and ability to build charts, graphs, and maps with in-house tools
• Demonstrated ability to interpret audience analytics to inform newsgathering decisions
• Basic knowledge of SEO and social headline-writing techniques
• Use newsroom tools for planning, authoring, communicating, etc.
• Collaborate effectively with team members and across newsroom teams
• Work under deadline pressure, communicate clearly, follow instructions, adapt quickly to changes in technology and workflow.

To apply, go here.