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.

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.

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!

The 2008-2009 Intercollegiate Retail Challenge scenario involved Web 2.0 and social networking tools for online retailing, and students were tasked with creating marketing, merchandising, and technology solutions. Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org, commented, “It is really impressive to see what these students were able to put together with their knowledge of both retail and their understanding of new media like Facebook, blogs, and Second Life.” He went on to say, “If these students are any indication, retail’s future leaders are bright, energetic, and deeply aware of the importance of connecting with customers.”

The Shop.org Ray M. Greenly Scholarship Fund was established in January 2006 to provide financial support to students pursuing careers in the e-commerce industry and commemorates the life of Ray Greenly, a valued online retail industry veteran who passed away in 2005. Ray served as Vice President of Research and Member Services of Shop.org for almost seven years.  The Ray M. Greenly Scholarship is funded largely by proceeds from Shop.org’s CyberMonday.com. The Fund has collected more than $900,000 since it was created. For more information about the scholarship and criteria, visit Shop.org.

Picture caption: From left to right: Richard E. Last, VP and Director of New Business, JCPenney and Chairman of the Shop.org Board; Valerie Greenly, the late Ray Greenly’s sister; Maria Greenly, the late Ray Greenly’s wife; Ashley Cline, Florida State University; Samantha Weaver, University of Florida; Alex West, University of Michigan; Sarah Losse, University of Arizona; and Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. Not pictured: Kyle Bender, University of Wisconsin; and Vikram Madan, University of Pennsylvania.

Participants in the second annual NRF Foundation and American Express aspire2retail Intercollegiate Retail Challenge delivered their presentations to a panel of judges on December 29, 2008. This year’s challenge involved implementing Web 2.0 and social networking tools and technologies.

After compiling the judges’ scores, we are pleased to announce Retailnet Consulting as the winning team! Even more thrilling, the winners are headed to NYC this weekend to deliver their presentation to attendees at NRF’s Big Show. Retailnet Consulting was led by Melinda Burke of the University of Arizona, and is made up of students representing six universities as follows:

• Kyle Bender, Senior, Retailing, University of Wisconsin
• Sarah Losse, Senior, Retailing and Consumer Sciences, University of Arizona
• Ashley Cline, Senior, Merchandising, Florida State University
• Samantha Weaver, Senior, Business Administration, University of Florida
• Alex West, Senior, Marketing, University of Michigan
• Vikram Madan, Senior, Finance and Accounting, University of Pennsylvania

Many thanks to the students, professors, retail judges and mentors for their participation. The students were truly impressive with their demonstration of teamwork and ability to meet tough deadlines. The overall consensus was that all the presentations were fantastic, given they only had a few weeks to research and collaborate — and, all while taking finals and trying to enjoy the holidays.

The aspire2retail Intercollegiate Retail Challenge helps build awareness of diverse career paths in retail by engaging university students in a competitive, collaborative role play with support from executive retail mentors to implement a multi-tiered business strategy.

For more information on this year’s challenge scenario, participating universities, and to download the team presentations, visit our Student Challenge webpage. You can view a similar post about the students’ presentation at the convention on NRF’s Event Blog.

Congratulations to all!