Name: Molly McKenna

College/University: University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Graduation Year: 2011

Degree: Bachelors of Business Administration

Why did you attend NRF’s BIG Show?

I learned about NRF’s BIG Show through competing in the NRF Intercollegiate Retail Challenge.  As a student interested in pursuing a career in retail, I knew attending the conference would be a great opportunity to learn about career paths in the industry and to talk with current retail professionals.

What was your favorite Super Session and why?

My travel schedule prevented me from attending a Super Session, but I greatly enjoyed “The Power of Retail Design” breakout session.  The panelists’ creativity in overcoming diverse challenges in store design and visual merchandising was inspiring.

What was the most exciting thing you saw or learned?

I enjoyed the Intercollegiate Retail Challenge team presentation during the “Where In the World Is Tomorrow’s Retail Talent” session?  It was interesting to see another team’s take on the challenges presented in the prompt.

What other fun things did you do while in New York City?

Although my trip was short, I had the opportunity to visit family living in the area.

What’s your dream retail job?

I hope to someday work as a buyer for a major department store.

Check out other student profiles from Dartmouth, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Arizona.

Name: Stephanie Olinski

College/University: University of Arizona

Graduation Year: 2012

Degree: B.S. in Retail and Consumer Sciences, General Business Minor

Why did you attend NRF’s BIG Show?

I attended the NRF Big Show to expand my knowledge of the industry I am passionate about. I thought it would be a fantastic chance to network and meet some of the most powerful people in retail. Plus, it was in New York. How could I not go?

What was your favorite Super Session and why?

My favorite Super Session was the New Luxury Paradigm with Tory Burch. It was great to hear the affects of social media today as a blogger and Twitter-er myself.

What was the most exciting thing you saw or learned?

The most exciting thing was the whole BIG show itself. I especially like the Design studio since my career interests are in visual merchandising and fashion marketing.

What other fun things did you do while in New York City?

I met up with a friend that had recently moved there and explored the magnificent 5^th Ave. I literally could have spent hours in all those stores just staring at everything. I also went shopping at Uniqlo after hearing so much about it.

What’s your dream retail job?

My dream retail job would be being CEO of a fashion and design magazine while living in New York.

Check out other student profiles from Dartmouth, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Michigan.

This was my first day EVER in New York City. I came with the University of Arizona’s NYC Study Tour and according to my itinerary, this was the only day I had to explore. We had a jam packed week ahead of us filled with super sessions, networking opportunities, and sponsored dinners.  Of course, I hadnn’t had any sleep the day before my flight (because I was so excited!), and didn’t sleep on the plane. Let’s just say coffee became my best friend again.

Under my motto of “sleep when you die” I thought it was the best decision to drop my bags at my hotel and explore the city as much as possible. That I did. I saw Times Square (very touristy), slightly overrated, but something I needed to check off my list. Then explored a little of Chelsea, experienced the Subway, caught a taxi (on my own!) and passed out knowing that the week of a lifetime was about to begin once I woke up.

Day 2

The first day of the convention was slightly overwhelming, especially being a measly college student in the world of REAL retailers. I attended the Power of Retail Design session which was very interesting because it is an area of study I want to go into after college. It was interesting to hear about the subjects we learned about at school being discussed as real ideas and projects to be implemented into stores. For instance, they spoke about brand imaging, and how to reach the international market.

I also attended David Wolf’s give his presentation on “A New Fashion Perspective.” Can I just say that he is amazing?! I completely agreed with his ideas about rethinking trends. It was so unbelievably refreshing to hear someone speak out against new trends and fashion shows unlike the teen bloggers today that pretentiously gawk over every new fashion line they see. Finally, someone who has credibility to speak about fashion!!  Wolf predicted fashion will have a new emphasis in fabric manipulations, pastel colors, rustic fabrics, and flower prints. It will be interesting to see what happens to fashion in the coming years. So pretty much, I loved his presentation.

Day 3

The U of A Study Tour and I pretty much got to walk to Expo floor and see all the booths. It was a great opportunity to network and get to know retailers and presenting companies. It was interesting, though, because people either thought we were high-schoolers, or other retailers. Obviously, they didn’t read our badges. Some people would approach us and be like “oh the University of Arizona…” and some would mention they didn’t realize that college students attended the convention.  Despite some puzzled looks we got, I still thought it was a great experience for us to meet people who could potentially hire us one day. By the way, I loved the Design Studio. If I come again next year, I will spend all my time there instead.

Day 4

LOVED!! the supper session “The New Luxury Paradigm” with designer Tory Burch and CEO of Saks Steve Sadove. They spoke about surviving the recession and adapting to the new environment to remain successful. It was reassuring to hear that retailer’s have a plan B for their company. This then brings potential to us college students to find a job out of college. Likewise, the feeling of satisfaction spreads to the consumers who get to see their favorite stores still open while the economy takes a turn. I found it funny that there are probably so many consumers who don’t even realize the behind-the-scenes of retail companies, and there I was exposed to it all. The luncheon we attended was phenomenal to be a part of. I was surrounded by some of the most powerful people in the retail world! And I got to meet Terry J. Lundgren…the namesake of our retail school!  Very many 20 year olds can tell people that they did what we did.

Day 5

The saddest day of the trip…we left for Tucson. Flying home made me realize the life changing opportunity I was a part of. It was totally worth missing the first day of school for, totally worth not sleeping all week for and totally worth all the money I worked hard for to attend. I was so incredibly grateful for the opportunities I was given through this trip and the NRF convention itself. The sessions and networking made me realize that I made a great decision to become a Retail and Consumer Sciences major.

Stephanie is a student at the University of Arizona, one of the Foundation’s college partners.

Home.

I’m sick…

I know, sad story.

But, I realized something while chugging orange juice for potential Vitamin C power to chug through the day – I’m not going to let being sick get me down.

Just as retailers are being optimistic that the worst is over, I’m going to be optimistic that I’ll get better by tomorrow and will be able to sit in on some more interesting sessions at the show.

As I mentioned in Bringing Back the Buy, that is the key to being in business. Optimism is the light of life that should guide all actions of retail. It is something that is going to get me through today and get me through the rest of my life in a world of business.

There is so much optimism behind that and it is the same optimism and drive that keeps retailers afloat throughout the changes in multi-channel retailing.

E-tailing has become a way of the present. Years ago online retail seemed something from the movie Back To The Future, but now you can make purchases from your cell phone! Online, convenient shopping is more popular than I ever could have imagined.

What does that mean for tangible, walk-in stores?

That means that fewer customers will be making their purchases in person. It is easier to sit at a computer and choose at the click of a button what you want to buy rather than travel the distance to purchase it.

What can retailers do to convince customers that getting out of their pajamas to travel to stores is a better experience?

Give them the visual experience!

Peter Graf, Chief Sustainability Officer, Executive Vice President of Sustainable Solutions, and speaker at the Sustainability in Retail session said, “Visuals drive change.”

He and Andy Thaemert, Associate Principal at retail design firm Callison and speaker at the Visual Merchandising: Infusing Artistry in Retail Design session spoke on the same topic – the theory that stimulating the customer’s experience visually can draw the customer to a store and away from a computer.

Having a strong market that is driven to shop in store is just as important as having a strong online presence. Finding the balance is what retailers need to do to maintain positive growth for both channels of retail. But, as of now, the bigger focus is keeping the attention of customers in person. That can be done through the visual merchandising.

Thaemert showed a number of slides giving a walk through of the newly opened Harvey Nichols flagship store in Jakarta. Instantly, even though I was not physically in the store, I saw through the photos a fantasy world made of unbelievably exciting visual merchandising. Looking at the photos left me breathless.

That is the effect that every retailer wants to have on a customer. That awe that draws them inward so that once they are inside, the real magic can begin.

One of the things that Harvey Nichols design team did was recycle things that were a part of Jakarta, such as steel oil drums, scooter tires, and glass bottles. They used those items to become part of the design of the store and it worked. Recycling is part of the restructuring of retailing and the way that it was shown in the Harvey Nichols store blew me away.

Without a doubt, retailers have to connect with their customers. The way to do that is through the visual merchandising. It is always going to be about the product itself, but instead now retailers need to spend a little more time focusing on how the product is showcased. That is what is going to bring the target customer into the physical, retail, store and keep them from the competitors.

If you can capture your audience in that way, you have done your job as a retailer and will capture audiences for years to come.

Jena Glick is a freshman at LIM College, one of the Foundation’s college partners.

I am a fashion scholar student at LIM College, which is located conveniently a hop, skip, and jump away from the Javitz Center in lovely Manhattan. As a scholar, I had the privilege of attending this major retail conference. Although my major is Marketing, and I do have knowledge about the global state of things, the visit to the show was no possible way in vain.

What I realized is simply this…  We must be ready for the change that retailing must undergo to survive.

In a man eat man and girl buys leather world, it’s survival of the fittest and retailers are duking it out to attain high profit amongst competitors. Now that’s nothing new, but it’s how they’re doing it – how the retailers are competing and what new techniques they need to adopt to stay in business through tough economic times.

What retailers need to do worldwide is evolve to meet the customers’ most basic needs. And in 2010, what can we predict those needs to be? Well, location and product differentiation for sure, but what about customer service? Product sustainability? It’s all that and more. In a world of evolving retailing, the business is not the only one changing; it is the consumer as well.

I know I’m a fashionista and of course my main line of thinking may be skewed towards…well, fashion, but in a realistic world, even fashionistas must think objectively and on a much larger scale. Fashion is a retailing business and retailing is the business of fashion.  Fashion will not survive if a retailing shift does not occur.

Dr. Ira Kalish, Global Director at Deloitte Research and speaker at the Global Powers of Retailing 2010: From Downturn to Uptick, noted that at last year’s retail conference, the topic was the recession and staying alive during it and that this year, the topic is along the lines of emerging into the shift in retailing that had begun after the recession.

There were a few major points that Dr. Kalish noted as key to turning the retail industry back into a booming business globally. But, in all honesty, none of it matters unless you get inside the psyche of the customer.

1. Customer behavior – understand how a customer thinks and how they behave, then you can have the slightest power as a retailer.

2. Quality over cost — Customers are a little more leery, now, to buying big ticket items, than before the recession which means that retailers need to give the customer what they want – more bang for their buck. Ensure that products are of top quality and made with ultimate satisfaction in mind, even if its retail value is only a dollar.

3. New structure – Dr. Kalish said that this is the turning point. We had an old structure for retailing and it worked for as long as it did, but now, after the recession it is time to adopt a new structure that will revolutionize retailing for the long haul. With that in mind, retailers have begun doing market research to better understanding how, why, when and all the other w’s of consumer buying habits.

4. Convenience — More so now than ever before, buying is done online. The introduction of e-tailing has revolutionized the entire retailing experience. What retailers have to understand is why?  The answer is pretty simple. Convenience. But, convenience for the customers may come at a price for retailers.

5. Risk taking — Of course there will be risks along the way, in what situation are there no risks? Well, no situation. Risks offer opportunity to see what works and what does not work with a retail business. If risks are not taken, how will businesses know what is possible to increase profitability and what will not work, without even trying? Today, retailers must try something new to get customers back into buying.

So here’s what you have to do as a retailer to stay in the game: adopt a new theory (if the old one does not work). Perhaps increase customer service. Increase the amount of diverse products. Or maybe just increase the amount of expansion that your retail is undergoing. Perhaps expand internationally. Go abroad, but without a question begin an online retail channel, it is not the future of retailing – it is the present!

Jena Glick is a freshman at LIM College, one of the Foundation’s college partners.

In the wild world of wondrous retail, optimism is the biggest ticket to staying afloat in a tough sea of market and competition.  But even more substantially important to maintaining a successful retail business is the actions that are backed by that optimism. The question remains, “What actions do you take as a retailer?”

Although it sounds pretty ridiculous to reduce inventory if businesses are so sure of an increase in demand, it is done with the greatest intentions of all.  “I’ve never seen anyone go out of business because they didn’t have enough of something. However, I have seen someone go out of business for having too much,” said Questrom.

It’s all in the product management. The chain of operations, after optimism is linked in to your retail, begins when inventory is reduced. More money is saved and can be used to differentiate products or to hire more employees. So the old moniker less is more, holds truth for the present and future of retailing as less inventory results in more profit and more jobs.

Job growth of course was a core subject during the Super Session. How can you create job growth? Well, for starters, be happy! That seems to have done the trick for all three of the speakers at the session, who have the experience in long lists of retail corporations.

But much more can be done. For example, decreasing multiple expenses in a number of ways, as Tracy Mullin, President and C.E.O. of NRF said to open the session. If retailers can learn to allocate their money properly, more money can be spent of providing income to employees, which in turn provides job growth.

“The economy today is measurably better than it was a year ago and will be measurably better a year from now,” said Mark Zandi, Chief Economist of Moody’s Economy.com, another speaker this morning.

With that being said, of course retailers have “happy” written all over their foreheads. Now that does not in any way mean that change will come as fast as a headache. As usual, things will take time. The entire world is recovering from one of the greatest recessions anyone has witnessed since the Great Depression and it is a no-brainer that recovery will take a few good years. But as businesses are already seeing changes in profit since last year, the outlook of retail in general is landing upon the stars that they are shooting for now.

Howard Levine, Chairman and C.E.O. of Family Dollar Stores, referenced that Family Dollar’s business is doing well compared to this time last year. They kept in mind the focus of customers during this past holiday season, and that focus, they noticed, was value. You have to focus and know your customer no matter what the times are like. When it came down to Family Dollar, Levine said that much time was spent on researching and gaining knowledge on the demographical customers that shop at the stores. He noted that a store must be adaptable and relevant to the customers’ needs, which are currently prevailing over their wants.

In conclusion, take account of what procedures work for your business and which ones do not. Use the proper techniques to fuel the changes that will present more opportunities to increase profitability and a loyal customer base. But most of all never let the failures get you down, be optimistic and see the sunshine over the cloudy days. Yes, we went through our rainy days of recession, but it is time to come out of the dark and adapt to the new retailing world, and if that means that a little extra work must be done by retailers, such as deeper research into demographics, then so it shall be.

And if a business does not see the immediate results it may have been waiting for, have no fear because retail is on the right track with new technology and innovations coming into light.

Jena Glick is a freshman at LIM College, one of the Foundation’s college partners.

The session that stuck with me the most was “The Power of Retail Design.” Two panels spoke to the unique challenges faced and innovative solutions found in the completion of various store design projects.  What made the discussion so enjoyable was a balance between the familiarity of the brands discussed, and the newness of the interpretations of those brands for different markets and formats.

One such brand was Neutrogena.  As an avid health and beauty consumer, I’m well aware of the brand and its positioning in the United States, but during the session I learned that to introduce the brand in India, an “education mall”, complete with magazine cover-inspired displays featuring layered imagery and text to attract shoppers was developed.  Private consulting and a one-on-one selling process were used to educate shoppers on product skin care and cleansing capabilities.

Another thought-provoking topic was the sustainable L.L. Bean store.  To again reference the session’s interesting paradox of the familiar and the new, I’ve always been an L.L. Bean catalog shopper, but didn’t realize they had brick-and-mortar stores.  Speaker Joseph P. Nevin explained that natural light, high recycled content materials, and repurposed materials were used in the store, paying homage to L.L. Bean’s penchant for stewardship and sustainability.  The store also includes a multi-channel hub where customers can access the company’s website and physical catalogs.

As these two examples illustrate, the projects discussed during “The Power of Retail Design” were quite diverse.  Despite the variety, all of the speakers proved that a multitude of challenges can be overcome with innovative store design and visual merchandising, a lesson I’ll have no trouble applying to situations in my future retail career.

Molly McKenna is a student at the University of Michigan.

Being in New York City is reason enough to write this, but as an added bonus (or should I say main reason for coming) I am attending the NRF Big Show. As a college student, this is a glimpse into the world I hope to be fully submerged into within the next couple years.  

I attended a super session called “The Power of Retail Design” by Joseph Bona and John Wilkins. “Take the product out of the store, and you should still be able to tell what the store represents.” This is a quote that took me by surprise; the design of retail embodies everything from the clothes itself, to the walls and flooring acting as a backdrop to sell the clothing. It’s about creating an atmosphere overall, that creates a good shopping experience. At Ben Sherman stores, they take an anti-retail design approach. The store is plastered with British flags anywhere from the floors to the walls. In one room there is wooden table and thick leather studded chairs, with a chandelier hanging above. Supposedly this pays tribute to when Ben Sherman himself, swung from a chandelier at a party. In this scenario, the clothes are the backdrop, while the focus is on creating a sense of loyalty and leisure. It’s almost like an odd version of your own house, except your house filled with fashionable clothing, who wouldn’t want that?  

I love New York City, I love being at this convention and I love working and being student within the retail industry.  All three of these reasons confirm I am on the right track, unlike many other unsure college students.

Maybe one day, you will be seeing me at the NRF Big Show, not as a student, but representing a company and coming to find the latest and greatest within retail. See you there!

Kalie is a junior at the University of Arizona, one of the Foundation’s college partners.

I am a college student who does not have any household bills to pay, does not have children to support, does not have any regular monthly expenses. Period. I have a job, which means I have the money for the frivolous spending that my age group is so well associated with.

What’s the problem with that?

Well… I’m not spending.

I sat on the outskirts of the recession and watched as it hurt countries and nations. Many have lost their jobs and the income that they once believed would withstand any recession. It did not quite affect me. I grew up in a middle-class family and my mother has always had a stable job. Luckily, she is the only one who can do her job. Simply put, I’ve got the money, but I’m not using it.

Well, what am I waiting for?

I’m waiting for prices to drop. I’m waiting so I can have money in case of crisis. I’m waiting to save. Save for what? Well I’m not quite sure yet. As of now the only major expenses I’m concerned about is the price of college textbooks. (Really? $ 200.00 for a book I’m only going to use once?)

I’m waiting for a good enough reason to spend – like a nice new outfit and an amazing pair or turquoise heels to wear to the NRF’s Big Show.  I am the potential buyer which retailer’s love. But, when I don’t make any purchases, retail dies a little.  How can retail survive if many are waiting it out to spend their disposable income instead of spending it right now?

That is the question that speakers at the Big Show have posed various answers to. Some said give change – introduce something new to entice the target customer. Some said it is not something new that should be the focus; it is the quality of a product or service. Sustainability of a product is the key to selling it.

And then, there is the opposite approach…the answer is not in the product at all, it is in the service. Showing expert customer service no matter what item you are selling will prove to be a top technique for retailers worldwide.

As mentioned by Mark Williams, President of Financial Service for Best Buy Co., Inc., the “blue shirts” are memorable not only because of the uniforms, but indeed because of their product knowledge that is reliable and helpful.

During the Super Session, Execute or Be Executed, Williams noted that there were challenges that  Best Buy Co., Inc. faced during the worst points of the recent recession. Those challenges were faced and dealt with when they adopted and perfected the theory that high quality customer service wins the hearts of a potential buyer. Even if the customer opts out of making the purchase today, they will stick with that retailer in the long run, because they know that the retailer had expertise knowledge of every product.

Well, here’s what I have to say. One answer cannot stand alone as the key to the revival of our economy after a recession – it is the combination of all of them. (The combination of having a helpful employee sell me some lovely turquoise high heels that will not hurt my poor feet and will be durable for many years of wearing). That is what is going to bring back the buy.

Jena Glick is a freshman at LIM College, one of the Foundation’s college partners.

If you are attending NRF’s BIG Show in New York City and are interested in blogging for our Retail Careers Blog, then we’re looking for you!

We’re looking for college students to recap the educational sessions, share their experiences, and provide a glimpse of the conference from a student’s (and future retailer’s) perspective.

The conference educational tracks and topics for blogs include:

• Global Outlook
• Information Technology
• Marketing and Brand Management
• Merchandising
• Online Retailing
• Store Design
• Store Works
• Sustainability
• Supply Chain

Blogging provides great recognition for you and your college/university program. Plus, it’s fun! Let us know that you’re interested by posting a comment below or sending an email to Angela Elder, Director of Certification and Career Development Programs, for more information.

We’re looking forward to reading your posts in NYC!

NRF’s 99th Annual Convention & Expo, January 10-13, 2010

People around the NRF office have been all a buzz about Sir Terry Leahy’s, CEO of Tesco, super session. Me? I’m personally excited that Tory Burch will be there as a speaker for Tuesday’s super session. I’m also excited about all of our Foundation-related activities.

Our Sunday session Where in the World Is Tomorrow’s Retail Talent? takes on an international theme. Attendees will be able to hear from the Winning Team of the third annual American Express – NRF Foundation InterCollegiate Retail Challenge. The team of six college students (from six top university retailing programs) will present their winning business plan and strategy for taking their U.S.-based retail company abroad. Following their presentation, heads of talent at retail companies will discuss their own talent recruitment, management and training strategies across borders.

On Tuesday, NRF Foundation and KPMG will present findings from the eight annual Retail Horizons: Benchmarks and Forecasts survey. At no time in recent memory have findings of this report been more important. KPMG and senior vice presidents from L.L. Bean and Saks will discuss how survey trends and findings line up with plans in their own company, along with the broader retail industry’s plans in nine key areas for 2010.

The education sessions and networking events will certainly keep attendees busy, but make plans to visit the EXPO Hall, including the NRF Foundation’s Resource Area. In the center of the Expo Hall floor (look for the red carpet), the Foundation has an exhibit area where we’ll be:

• Interviewing retail executives — we’ll be “on location” with retail’s biggest stars. Stop by and check out our “casting call,” where will be  talking with retailers about why they love working in the industry.
• Holding demos of our new eLearning platform — come check our our new system and our retail-specific course offerings and certification programs.
• Blogging — our Collegiate Blogging Team will be back at it, sharing their experiences at the BIG Show.
• Tweeting — we’ll be holding several Twitter activities, so make sure you’re following @Retail_Careers.

If you’re planning to attend, make a comment and tell us what you’re most looking forward to in New York!

Below is the “RetailNet Consulting” Aspire2Retail Challenge Winning Team together at last!

Starting from left:  Ashley Cline (Florida State Univeristy), Sarah Losse (University of Arizona),Samantha Weaver (University of Florida), Alex West (Univeristy of Michigan), and Kyle Bender (University of Wisconsin)

This fabulous weekend in New York City was extravagant! Along with meeting and networking with some of Retail’s famous executives, I acquired so much information from this weekend by attending presentations, panel sessions, and networking luncheons. The real reason I was here though in fact was to present our winning team’s solution to the Aspire2Retail challenge sponsored by American Express. Sunday morning the RetailNet Consulting Group (my team, minus Kyle Bender who was delayed because of weather and snow) presented our final 30 minute project in front of an audience which included the board members of the National Retail Federation.

Through the stressful times of the holiday season, we were challenged with using Web 2.0 and social networking tools to help our fictional multichannel department store website connect its brand with our customers. We implemented tools like customer reviews, customer loyalty programs, blog advertising, SecondLife and Facebook to raise awareness and increase its image. We also created marketing, merchandising, and technology solutions to accomplish our goals in the challenge.

Afterwards, we were awarded with engraved trophies along with a very exciting surprise scholarship award of $2,500 to each student from Scott Silverman, Executive Director from Shop.org. Later that day we attended a networking luncheon where we discussed trends in sustainability. We spoke with executives from Cisco systems and Ralph Lauren. It’s quite amazing to see the money that retailers are saving by becoming a more sustainable store! Later this weekend I was able to attend sessions about the Retail industry included: Martin Lindstrom and “Buyology: The Truth and Lies about Why We Buy” which included studies showing how the brain influences our decision making; also presentations dealing with creating new and innovative ways to gain better customer relationships and to better serve them in a tough economy. Speakers were very positive even in these tough times. They emphasized ways on improving training and searching for new talent to bring to companies. Instead of this being a negative time, this as an opportunity to learn from these hard times in the economy in which retailers can use this chance to become unique and different from others. This gives hope to many students like myself who are looking for jobs and interested in retail.

Sunday night we were also very fortunate to attend the opening night party at Gotham Hall. Everything was fabulous from the food and cocktails, to the band and the dancing, it was a motivating event to start off the Big show. People from all over the world attended and it was amazing hearing the different languages and yet, we all have something huge in common: Retail.

Overall it was an unforgettable weekend and I was extremely fortunate to meet the members of my team Sara Losse, Alex West, Samantha Weaver, and Kyle Bender. I strongly encourage anyone to participate in such an eye opening experience. Next year, if you are a student and are faced with an opportunity to join the Aspire2Retail Challenge 2010, sign up! If you have the teamwork, the passion, and creativity to pull together a great presentation, you will never forget the experience of a lifetime from a student perspective of the NRF’s BIG Show.

Some of the wonderful faculty members from Florida State University and Myself.

Opening act at the BIG show.  Clearly some “Outside of the Box” thinking going on!

Retailers Doing Well by Doing Right: 11:00AM-12:00PM
The first lecture I went to today was down in Hall E, where I heard Morley Ivers of RecycleBank and Tom Szaky of TerraCycle. The theme: there’s gold in them there landfills! It hasn’t hit in my Brooklyn neighborhood yet, but RecycleBank has essentially created one of the world’s first recycling-for-dollars loyalty promotional campaigns. The more you recycle, the more redeemable points you get. They take almost everything-plastic, paper, aluminum cans, glass. Sadly, they don’t take recycled jokes, dashing my hopes for an early retirement.

Hitting the trade show floor:
After a $4.25 pretzel for a snack (lest I forget that I am in New York), I hit the trade show floor again and saw many more cool exhibits. Scentair had a brightly colored VW minibus at their booth specially equipped to emit all sorts of fragrances, including “chocolate,” “pumpkin pie,” and “baby powder,” so that you can give your store an appealing scent. It smelled like a winner to me. Ironically, though, they did not offer a VW minibus smell, much to the disappointment of the nostalgic baby boomers in the crowd.

There was plenty of other high-tech stuff as well. They had some of those cool tabletop computer screens at the Microsoft booth, and another vendor had Provision 3D holograms, although I thought it would have been even better if they built an R2-D2 droid to display them.

Reinventing the Retail Store Window: How Technology and Visual Merchandising Merge to Unleash the Customer Experience: 1:00-1:45PM
I popped up to the NRF Design Studio for a bit, where a lot of the store architects had displays of their work. They were very chic, although slightly beyond my student-budget price range. Alex Richardson awarded chocolate prizes to the audience if they could identify retailers by their store windows, which was a fun quiz except for the curve wrecker in the front right of the audience who kept getting most of them and nearly cornered the chocolate market. She clearly had studied.

Richardson went on to show us some really engaging windows like the touch-screen window at Ralph Lauren’s store in Manhattan. It’s highly interactive, and was inspired by technology used by Tom Cruise in the Minority Report, so I’ll have to take a field trip next week. I really liked the technology, although the rest of presentation seemed like a lot of window dressing to me. (Wait for it, wait for it…Insert rim shot here.)

CIO Innovator’s Forum: 1:45-3:00PM
This was a moderated panel from with the CIOs of several companies, including Urban Outfitters and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, and they offered a variety of interesting perspectives. However, they all were looking for the same thing in their software vendors: rather than buying software off-the-shelf, they wanted ongoing partnerships. High service costs and not enough support were the biggest driving factors in pushing them towards open-source solutions.

There were other interesting points as well, but I was highly distracted because Doug Rutledge, Fresh & Easy’s CIO, bore an uncanny resemblance to my brother and I could not stop staring at him from way in the back of the room. I left before he could attempt to put me into a headlock.

Mobile as the Next Channel-Hype or Reality? 3:00-3:30PM
Instead of the moderated debate that I expected, with each candidate getting two minutes plus one minute for a rebuttal, reality hogged all of the air time. According to Cisco, the recent advances in cell phones will create tremendous opportunities, and the successful stores will be the ones who figure out how to use it to their advantage. In many ways, mobile technology is a lot like me on the basketball court – you can’t really stop it, you can only hope to contain it. At least that’s the message that I took away.

Opening Keynote: The Company of the Future: 8:30-9:30AM
This was quite a show. After glow-in-the-dark dancers and two shirtless, Adonis-like men from Cirque Le Masque opened the talk, Walmart CEO H. Lee Scott had a tough act to follow. But the crowd relaxed a little after he told them he was going to keep his shirt on…

While acknowledging the tough retail environment, Mr. Scott, in his last public speech as the CEO before he retires in a couple weeks, gave a more hopeful and optimistic speech than his colleagues did. Looking ahead to the Obama inauguration just a few days away, he saw an opportunity to break political gridlock and achieve progress in health care, alternative energy, immigration and education. Many of Walmart’s biggest problems, it seems, are very American problems as well.

Scott’s demeanor was equally thoughtful and reflective in the Q&A. The most important lesson that he learned over the years: You have to hire people who are better than you and give them credit when credit is due. Humble words from the leader of the largest retailer in the world.

Hitting the trade show floor: 9:30AM-11:30AM
Indulge my fondness for understatement: there is a lot to see. It felt like it took about 30 minutes to find the tiny little “You Are Here” arrow on the huge map, so I quickly abandoned any attempt at a systematic strategy and thought I would follow the crowds for a while. My expectations were high-I had a room full of retail experts in front of me. Surely they could capture my attention for a while…

After getting lost for a bit, I stumbled across a gaggle of attractive young women in attire rarely exhibited in New York in the month of January. Did I wander all the way back to Spring Break: Cancun? No, JDA was playing a version of “Deal or No Deal” with the attendees, and apparently they not only brought suitcases full of prizes, but they brought along a model to open each case. When the show was over, they master of ceremonies asked the crowd to go see the models and sign up. And I’m thinking, this is a trick, right? I mean, I know trouble when I see it…

But no sooner did I escape then I bumped into “Rubber Boy,” a double, no, triple-jointed contortionist who manages, once an hour, to fold his body into a small trunk about the size of a shopping basket. Why? To demonstrate the “flexibility” of Intermec’s software and hardware systems, obviously. It brought back so many childhood dreams of wanting to run away with the circus. If only I had not wasted years so many years in school!

Wild demonstrations aside, there were a lot of good exhibit booths, many more of which would have appealed to me if I spoke XML. However, Gift Wrap Solutions showed me a machine that can perfectly gift wrap a random-sized box in less than 30 seconds. I just had to have one, until I found out that it cost $40,000. It also couldn’t gift wrap the hugs that I gave for Christmas this past year. Crestfallen, I resolved to go back tomorrow to see if I can barter a poem for it.

Greentailing in Tough Times: How Consumers are Reacting and Retailers Responding: 1:45-3:15PM
Interesting talk on Greentailing in today’s environment. What I really learned was that we are actually already onto Greentailing 2.0, with version 1.0 having blown by me when I was apparently wearing grunge and trying to make sense of Kurt Cobain lyrics. Nevertheless, Will Ander of McMillan Doolittle closed the round of speakers by highlighting that too many retailers are not getting it quite right: however well intentioned it may be, “Spend less!” is not necessarily a slogan that you want ringing in the consumer’s ears.

He did focus on some really good points, though. Green is not a fad, and it’s not going away-attitudes are continuing to shift in favor of environmentally friendly stores and products. However, it is important that retailers are realistic: most consumers are going “light” green-they are gradually adopting more green products, but they are not obsessive about it. Almost everyone is light green most of the time…

Sustainable Product Innovation: Perspectives from Danny Seo: 4:30-5:15PM
This was a late addition to my schedule, but continuing my green theme for the day, I dropped in on “eco-stylist” Danny Seo’s presentation late in the afternoon. First of all, he’s started the largest teenage environmental activist groups in the country, written four books, published a DVD, is a featured columnist in Better Homes and Gardens, and has his own line of branded eco-friendly products that he sells through JCPenny. Any he’s my age. But he was a polished speaker, quizzing the audience for $500 prizes, and sharing some pearls of wisdom: green is an added value, but you need to sell the audience on the other features and engage the customer in new ways in order to sell green. Again, if only I had not wasted so many years getting an education!

January 10, 2009 – Day 1
I woke up excited to start traveling. This was only my second time flying and while I was a bit nervous about it I couldn’t wait to get to NY!!! I met Kelley, faculty adviser for RLS, at the XNA airport and we went straight to check in. I thought that it would all be standard procedure, but I was wrong. When we got up to security I found out that my ticket had been randomly selected for additional security checks. I am so lucky! They pulled me off to the side and gave me a friendly pat down and bag search. How embarrassing, really, the officer even commented on the nice shade of red my face had turned. Don’t worry my fun didn’t stop there. We then flew into Atlanta, GA where the weather was 60 degrees. Too bad it was raining and our flight got delayed an hour. I can’t complain too much though because the two flights before us and the two flights after us got canceled. So, I said goodbye to warm weather and left for NY. We flew into Newark, NJ where it was snowing of course. I didn’t care though I was getting ready to hop a cab for NY. My first time ever to NY! I couldn’t help thinking of all the things I wanted to see and do while I was there. I even asked the taxi driver to make sure and let me know as soon as we crossed over from Jersey to NY. He laughed a little, but was nice enough to point out an amazing view of the city. Finally after what felt like forever in the cab (really only like 15 minutes) we made it to our hotel. I was too excited to go to sleep so Kelley and I decided to take a walk. Two blocks in and we turned the corner right onto Times Square! My head was completely swimming. Billboards painted the sky with neon lights. People were everywhere. Every time I turned around there was something new grabbing my attention. I was like a kid in a candy store pointing out everything I saw. The 2009 New Years Eve ball, Hard Rock Café, Plant Hollywood, I even started pointing out all of the people selling stuff on the street. I couldn’t have imagined anything like this in a million years. No amount of TV had prepared me for what I was experiencing. Several hours later and many, many pictures later we walked back to the hotel so we could get some sleep and start our conference the next morning.

January 11, 2009 – Day 2
6:50 am the alarm clock started going off in my ear (note to self: I really need to find a less annoying tune to wake up to). Time to get up already, I felt like I had just gone to bed. I was ready to start the day though. I wasn’t sure what to expect at the conference, all I knew was that I was excited to go. In Arkansas all of our meetings are in auditoriums and hotel ballrooms. This was definitely not an auditorium. We shuttled to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and I was completely amazed at how beautiful this building was and how long (note to self: find more comfortable heels to walk in). We arrived early to make sure that we could get a good seat to see Daniel Moe speak on at the session, Are You Truly a Customer-Centric Retailer? Daniel is on our Retail Advisory Committee at NWACC and I was anxious to hear him speak. It was great to learn more on this topic, but I have to tell you my favorite part was when Daniel showed us the Best Buy commercials from years past and today. It is really amazing to look back and see how marketing strategies have changed. I also had the opportunity to attend a session on The Global Powers of Retailing 2009. About 15 minutes into this one I was thinking how grateful I was that I had already taken an Economics class. My final session for the day was Holistic Approaches to “Green” Retail Strategies. I always love to hear topics on the environment and sustainability discussed, but I was particularly intrigued by this one, mostly because I have an ex-boss that uses the word holistically all the time, but also because I got to listen to the story of Half Priced Books and how it was founded. All in all I would say day one at the conference was a success my head was full of new knowledge and my red bag they gave me was full of more reading material.

After the conference we rushed back to the hotel so that we could get in some more site seeing. Our first stop was the TKTS booth in Times Square for some half-price tickets to my very first Broadway Musical. The line wasn’t very long, but I went ahead and let Kelley get the tickets while I found some strangers to talk to. Just kidding, they weren’t really that strange. Some of the guys handing out fliers were nice of enough to tell me where to find some odd locations that I wanted to check out while in NY. One of them even knew where Sarah Jessica Parker lived, but not having a clue where I was I knew that I would never find where she was. So I gave up that mission and we headed to the Empire State Building. What a view! I can’t even describe what I could see from 86 stories up. It was absolutely breathe taking and well worth the cramped ride in the elevator to see. Back down to solid ground and off to our Broadway Musical. Since we has a little time left before it started I decided that I had better try a little more NY culture and had me a “dog” with kraut and mustard. I’ve got to tell you it really just tasted like a hotdog with kraut and mustard. A little disappointing, but the musical was not… We walked into to a gorgeous room with balconies and box seating. The walls had pillars with ram’s head carved into them. It was amazing, my bottle of water was even lined with gold, well it should have been it cost $4. Anyhow, I laughed, I clapped, I even sang along. Mamma Mia was a hit! I loved every minute of it. I have never had an experience like that and I am so glad I got to go. We finished up the evening at the Hard Rock Café for some supper. Very awesome place, I even had Ringo’s drums sitting on the wall behind me. Day 2 in NY was great, a day of learning and an evening of memories.

January 12, 2009 – Day 3

Up bright and early again today after a long night, but well worth it.  The conference kicked off today with Lee Scott speaking.  I have heard Lee speak on several occasions, but this was a great experience for me to see him speak in this kind of environment.  Everyone was hanging on every word he said, including me.  He is such a powerful speaker.  Also in the Super Sessions we had Weathering Retail’s Storms: How to Navigate in a Turbulent Economy.  It was lunch time after the two sessions and Kelley and I decided to do a little exploring.  I was on a mission to have a slice of NY style pizza.  First we headed to Central Park for a short carriage.  The view is beautiful.  There were several people skating at the rink, the carousel, and I even got to see the bridge where the filmed part of Home Alone 2.  Anyhow, back to the pizza.  Our cab driver told us about the famous John’s pizza so we head straight there.  I was a little disappointed when I got there to find out that they didn’t serve pizza by the slice, but when they brought out our “pie” I could have ate the whole thing.  Now that is some good pizza.  Feeling very full we went back to the conference where we met up with Daniel Moe.  I also attended Financial Business Case for Improving Supply Chain Efficiencies. I am going to be taking supply chain soon so this was a great insight to what I have coming up.  The speaker was Kyle McIntosh from Patagonia.  I love their website and the story of their supply chain.  I recommend everyone checking it out.  After the conferences for the day we headed back out for some more adventures.  Completely exhausted at this point we made it a quick adventure though.  Since our hotel was close we walked down to Grand Central Station to get on the nearby subway.  This was my first time on a subway.  If you have ever thought reading a map was hard be glad you have never had to figure out what subway you were suppose to get on. Geesh !  I was a bit confused to say the least, but we did arrive at our destination in China Town.  Now I have to tell you I was asked by several people to come back with them I love NY tshirts and I finally found some that were good quality in China Town.  So I went ahead and bought 5 for $10 and was glad I did my friends loved them.  We of course ate some great Chinese food while there and crossed over briefly in to Little Italy.  We were going to go to SOHO, but were way too tired and went back to the hotel for some rest.

January 13, 2009 – Day 4

Getting some sleep sure was nice.  I feel excited to start the day off.  We went to a great conference on The Sky Has Fallen: Now What?  It was held with a panel of experts which discussed the economy.  The entire NRF conferences have been great in recognizing the struggling economic times we are in.  It’s been such a great learning experience to hear what Retailers are doing to pave their way in the future through this turbulence.  I also made it to Rising Stars: Succession Planning that Builds Future Retail Leaders and took some time to go through the Value Expo and the Convention Expo.  I loved to see what is out in the market now and what some upcoming trends might be.  The final session I went to for the day was my favorite throughout the whole conference.  VIRC is the New BRIC: Emerging Markets.  Learning about what is being seen as new upcoming markets was one of the best learning experiences I had.  The presenter was very knowledgeable and the entire presentation was so well prepared.  The entire audience was participating by asking questions and sharing their stories.  It was very inspiring.  We had only grabbed a quick bite to eat at the conference since we were so busy there today so we decided to go somewhere nice for dinner.  When we got back to the hotel I asked the lady at the front desk if she could recommend somewhere nice where I might run into “someone famous”.  She recommended a destination and off to the subway we went, well there was the quick detour to Rockefeller Center first.  I loved getting to see the skaters and people all watching them.  I didn’t feel like the only tourist in NY while I was there.  It was fun, but let me tell you what; don’t go to the Village for someplace to run into famous people.  I thought at first we had gotten lost or maybe didn’t take the right subway stop, but we ask a police officer and a cab driver who both confirmed that we were in the village, but they didn’t know off anywhere nice for us to go eat.  After wandering the streets (note to self – probably not my best idea) we grabbed a cab and headed off to the Shark Bar in Manhattan.  Much better.  The food was great but I am going to give you all a tip…  I am a southern gal and I love sweet tea.  This restaurant had more of a home-style cooking style to it so I though, okay I will give the tea a shot.  It was great!  It was so great that I had 3 glasses of it.  It was not $9 great.  Seriously… they charged me $3 per glass, no free refills.  I was shocked, but couldn’t give it back at that point.  I needed to do some more souvenir shopping, couldn’t leave NY without getting a present for my mom, so we ran back down to Time Square and I found a couple of things I couldn’t live without, of course, and then headed back to start packing.

January 14, 2009 – Day 5

I woke up feeling sad.  I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to NY.  I knew in a few short hours though I would have to leave so I went ahead and finished packing up my belongings.  After we both got ready we went ahead on the conference.  What an inspirational closing day.  I went to Harvesting the Low Hanging Green Fruit and The Digital Channel: Retail’s new growth engine.  This was another great session.  We talked about Boarder’s website.  Much like Patagonia I was impressed by Boarder’s website.  There is a lot of innovation on Boarder’s website and you can tell they are a company that is truly listening to what their customer is saying.  We also went to the super session Inspirational Leadership: What Differentiates Great Companies and Why.  We had to head right back to the hotel after that to change and get our stuff locked up until it was time to go to the airport.  With just a little time left we went to the Guggenheim.  I never thought in a million years that I would ever get to see an actual Picasso, but I did and it was breathe-taking.  My best friend was an art major so I have always had an appreciation thanks to her and I really wished at that moment she could have been there.  They were doing a lot of remodeling, but I still loved everything that I did get to see.  We had to start towards the airport at this point, but we needed to get some stamps so that we could mail out our postcards and have them stamped NY.  The cab driver couldn’t tell us where the Post Office was, but luckily there was one only a few blocks from the hotel so we mailed out our post cards then off to the airport.

I guess all of the reading material I was taking back with me weighed too much because my luggage was overweight.  I dug it all out though and found room in Kelley’s carry on to store it.  After that was all over we headed down to security where, you guessed it, I got selected for additional security checks again.  At least I wasn’t alone this time because Kelley got the joy of the pat down too. Hey, at least the planes were all on time and our luggage was in Arkansas when we got back.

What a great time and what wonderful memories I have created.  Learning and site seeing, I will not soon forget my first time in NY.

My Fellow Retail Enthusiasts,
My name is Tom Welsh, I am a graduate student in business at NYU, and due to recent dire economic circumstances, I’ve had to make a tough choice: donate my body to science or get a real job. I have not made up my mind. But to learn more about the real world and feed budding interests in merchandising and retail technology, I’ve come to the Big Show here at the Javits Center as a student blogger, and I’ll be reporting to you throughout the show. Dare I say, the internet will never be the same…

Here’s a recap of Day One:

Try It, You’ll Like, no LOVE, It: 8:30-10:00AM
The first presentation I went to was “Try It, You’ll Like It” to catch the winning student group presentation of the NRF’s Intercollegiate Challenge. I was not involved in this, which was convenient, because it looked like serious work. But then Shop.org gave each student on the winning team a $2500 Ray M. Geenly scholarship. While others may have had a different experience, in my book Mr. Greenly was far more generous that Santa Claus was three weeks ago. My new New Year’s Resolution: be good in 2009 and get more involved in NRF Intercollegiate Activities.

Association for Retail Technology Standards Update: 10:15-11:45AM
These guys mean business. First, I was chased into the auditorium by security, who apparently thought that I had faked my ID badge just to sneak into the ARTS session to gather information. I have been mistaken as an international man of mystery before, but he was unimpressed by my giant NRF Foundation Collegiate Blogger button. Just as I was about to tell him he shouldn’t pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel, his scanner clicked to green and it was safe for me to resume my seat.

The presenters were equally serious, which should be expected. These are the people on the front lines of keeping our data safe. Francisca Cicente-Tamarin, of El Corte Ingles, S.A., told us that they used to call their POS system “El Loco.” Keeping company secrets safe while battling crazy robot computers? Move over, James Bond.

Mobility and Near Field Communications (NFCs): 12:00-1:30PM
Interesting chat about the future of NFCs-basically transmitters attached to your credit cards and cell phones. While the technology has the potential to help personalize store promotions, the crowd wasn’t quite sold. The panel put on a pretty hard sell on the benefits of the technology, but fears of security and high implementation costs still seemed to weigh on retailers’ minds.

Embrace Global Megatrends and Turn Shoppers Into Advocates: 1:45-2:45PM
I went to this Super Session at 1:30PM, and it was hard not to be drawn in…When I first walked in to the main room, it was like walking into a rock concert-a giant black stage with huge speakers and stage lights everywhere, with brightly colored stage architecture piece, blasting rock music, and two Jumbo-tron screens. Was I at the NRF Big Show or the People’s Choice Awards? If there were stage flames, we could have been at an Alice Cooper performance. But as NRF chief Tracy Mullin reminded us in her opener, the only thing going down in flames this year was the economy.

Ok, but what’s the game plan? According to IBM, consumers want value-and when the going gets tough, more of them are becoming loyal advocates and “shifting” their loyalty to stores where they get more value. Turn shifters into shoppers, and shoppers into advocates.

Martin Lindstrom, author of Buyology, then gave fun talk, highlighting why how irrational we are. I was hooked, until he told us that he got most of his data by actually scanning people’s brains. A brief moment of paranoia erupted as I worried that he was reading my thoughts. Who does this guy think he is-my wife?

But seriously-Lindstrom’s main point was that rituals, subtle suggestions, and somatic markers that appeal the subconscious are way more powerful than conventional advertising. I don’t know if his theories are true or not, but I have a sneaky suspicion that every time I see an MRI image of the human skull I’ll have an urge to buy his book. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.  

Calling student bloggers! If you are attending NRF’s Big Show in New York City, and are interested in blogging for NRF Foundation’s Retail Careers Blog, let us know! Post a comment below or send an email to Angela Elder, Director of Certification and Career Development Programs.

NRF Foundation would like to enlist college students to recap the educational sessions, share their experiences, and give us a glimpse of the conference from a student’s (and future retailer’s) perspective.

The conference educational tracks include:

• Digital Retailing
• Global Trends & Forecasting
• Information Technology
• Marketing & Brand Management
• Merchandising
• People
• Store Design
• Store Operations
• Supply Chain

As NRF Foundation kicks off our new website and Retail Careers Blog, we are excited to connect students, educators and others to the world of retail, and the exciting career and learning opportunities that are available. And, there’s no better place to do than NRF’s 98th Annual Convention and EXPO. If you are attending the show and are eager to share your experiences, we want to hear from you! Post a comment below or contact Angela Elder for more details.

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Update on Blogging at the Convention: If you are a college student attending the Big Show and are interested in blogging, here are a few more details.

(1) SIGN UP FOR A USERNAME/PASSWORD
In order to become a blogger, you will need to sign up for a username and password for our blog. Please do this before you arrive at the show. Be sure to read the instructions on how to obtain a username/password.

(2) FACE-TO-FACE MEETING ON SUNDAY, JAN. 11
Bloggers will meet with Angela Elder directly after the conclusion of the Sunday morning (Jan. 11) session, Try It, You’ll Love It. This session starts at 8:30 am and concludes at 10:00 am, and takes place in Room Hall E, 1E 12/13 (this will make sense when you get to the Javits Convention Center).  Angela will be one of the presenters so you’ll be able to recognize her. An announcement will be made during the session about meeting afterwards. We won’t be able to use the same room (there’s a session immediately following), but we’ll gather outside the door and find a place to chat and talk about your “assignments.”

(3) WHEN IT IS TIME TO BLOG
We will discuss your specific areas of interest (merchandising, sustainability, etc.) and we’ll will make “assignments” based on the topics/sessions/events you want to cover. NRF Foundation will have a booth on the EXPO Hall floor and we will have a few laptops there for you to use when you are ready to type your posts (but, feel free to bring your own). Please note: your blog posts will need to be approved before they are published.

Blog on!