NRFF Executive Director, Kathy Mance, and Director of Retail Learning Solutions, Sarah Conrad, traveled to Alexandria, Egypt to present at a conference of 1,000 members of the Chamber of Commerce.  As part of the opening ceremony, Kathy officially signed an agreement with Chamber Chairman Ahmed El Wakil to develop and localize a Retail Training and [...]

After interviewing Jerry O’Brien, we decided to get the student’s perspective on Kohl’s Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s spring break trip to China. We talked to Sarah Ackerman, president of the Student Retail Association and asked her to share her experience on international retailing in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
UW-Madison has a [...]

It’s an exciting time at the Kohl’s Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Thirty students just returned from spending spring break in Hong Kong and Shanghai, completing a one credit course on international retailing.  We asked Jerry O’Brien, the center’s director and Sarah Ackerman, president of the Student Retail Association to tell us [...]

DECA, a student organization with programs in Buying & Merchandising, Fashion Merchandising, Retail Marketing, Retail Merchandising, and more, is a great partner of NRF Foundation — and retail. Last fall, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel about how the organization prepares students for the workforce. With over 185,000 high school members, DECA [...]

NRF Foundation’s Executive Director, Kathy Mance, traveled to Beijing, China earlier this month to follow up on a training program first delivered in December.  While there, Kathy watched a retail training program in action (and delivered in Chinese!), tasted new cuisine and climbed the Great Wall of China. But what excited her most was learning about the retail opportunities [...]