If you look at any job description for an ETL, they PREFER the 4-year degree, but the company is solemnly doing away with it because there's not a lot of higher education required to be in leadership in a retail store. They take degrees in anything from art to humanities, to mathematics and business. TL roles don't require a degree period, just some experience. You'll learn on the job, experience is always preferential, but in jobs like this, you just need to be a leader; you don't learn that with a degree specifically.
HR is one of those industries where experience matters way more than the degree, but the requisite degree integrated with a few reputable certifications from HRCI and SHRM makes you extremely marketable.
Retail HR is a completely different ball game when it comes to the industry, and a lot of people don't even take it seriously. Your duties are only partially in HR and partially in retail management. You're also not getting the experience you'd get at a different company where you'd own the HR department and duties.
If it were me, I'd try and get an HR role at corporate or district, or skip the lower, middle-retail management HR roles and get an HR assistant, specialist, or coordinator job and develop under real HR leaders. It will do wonders for an HR career.