There used to be a break between big retail seasons. Back-to-school would wind down, then Halloween, then the run-up to Black Friday and the holidays. That break doesn’t really exist anymore.
Back-to-school, Halloween, and other event-driven spending have landed near record levels in the same year the holidays are shaping up to be record-breaking too, according to NRF’s retail economic outlook.
NRF is projecting holiday sales will pass $1 trillion for the first time, growing 3.7% to 4.2% over last year, per NRF’s official holiday forecast.
At the same time, retailers are only planning to hire 265,000 to 365,000 seasonal workers this year, down from 442,000 last year. That’s the lowest seasonal hiring level in more than 15 years.
So, more demand is stacking up against fewer people to handle it. Resets, remodels, and fixture installs that used to have some space between seasonal peaks now have to happen right in the middle of them, with a staff that’s already stretched.
Corporate deadlines for a reset rarely line up with when a store actually has the bandwidth. So, district and regional managers end up asking teams to run daily operations and execute a remodel in the same week at the same time. That’s an expensive ask.
As of March 2026, the retail industry’s average separations rate sat at 4.1%, compared to 3% across all sectors, according to BLS data cited by DailyPay. A Deloitte and Workday report on the retail workforce puts turnover for hourly in-store roles at 76%. And a Retail Trust study cited by Advanced found that 56% of retail employees are at risk of leaving their roles. Every one of those departures disrupts continuity and adds recruiting and onboarding costs, usually at the worst possible time.
The practical result is that regional teams spend peak season putting out staffing fires instead of actually planning ahead. A project that should take a few days ends up taking weeks because the crew keeps changing.
Pulling store associates onto reset or remodel work during peak season rarely goes well. Either the project slows down because staff are splitting time with customers, or the customer experience slips because fixture work keeps staff buried for hours at a time.
Neither is acceptable when a promotional launch or holiday reset is on the line. This is where things tend to go wrong for district and regional leaders:
The alternative is bringing in a dedicated team built for project work, so store associates aren’t choosing between the customers in front of them and a deadline behind them.
That’s what InDemand Services provides through our project support services.
Every crew member goes through the same vetting process, so retailers get consistent, accountable execution. Crews scale up or down to run multiple resets or remodels across regions at once, without adding permanent headcount. And because IDS works specifically in retail, teams already know what a reset or fixture install actually requires before they walk in.
Visibility matters just as much as the labor itself.
IDS tracks every project in real time through its own platform, Cruxos, so regional and district leaders can see headcount, progress, and billing across every location, not just the ones they can physically visit. No more guessing which stores are on track before a key date hits.
The value of a good project lead shows up clearly under pressure.
During a recent grand re-opening remodel at a Walmart in West Palm Beach, Florida, IDS Project Lead Krystal B. ran a crew through new counter builds, full relocations, and a complete product reorganization over several weeks.
The IDS project manager who worked alongside her said Krystal kept the team on schedule with minimal direction, made sound calls on her own, and only looped in leadership when it actually mattered.
The remodel gave customers a newly branded, upgraded shopping experience, and her work earned direct praise from Walmart leadership.
Retailers working with IDS on project support get:
Project support is only one part of what IDS handles. Take a look at our full breadth of services to see what else we offer.
A partner like IDS sends in dedicated project crews that work alongside existing store teams, not instead of them. The crew handles the reset, remodel, or install directly, while store associates stay focused on the sales floor.
Overlapping peak seasons aren’t going away. The retailers who plan around that tend to come out ahead of the ones treating each surge as a surprise.
Reliable project support means crews handle resets right, remodels stay on schedule, and store teams stay focused on the people walking through the door.
Want to talk through what project support could look like for your stores? Reach out today!
If you’re interested in the kind of work Krystal does, take a look at careers with InDemand Services.
InDemand Services is a retail workforce staffing company headquartered in Raleigh, NC. With W-2 workers, real-time project tracking through Cruxos, and dedicated account management, InDemand helps retail operators execute peak season work without overloading their core teams. People With Purpose.
