As director of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at  The Wharton School, you collaborate with more than 50 industry partners to expand resources available to faculty and students to support education, outreach and research. How have these partners contributed to the development of your students? Can you share an example?

Our partners have offered their expertise to our students in many different ways. They have been keynote speakers at our conferences; for example, last year Roger Farah (President and COO of Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation) spoke at our annual Penn Fashion Week and this year Vera Wang and William Fung (Group Managing Director of Li & Fung Limited) will speak.

Many of our partners have provided guest speakers from various areas in their organizations to come into our classrooms as a way of bringing relevant retailing experience into our courses. They have also worked with faculty and students to develop research and consulting projects.

For example, I am currently working with a group of students on a term project for Dress Barn and I have worked with Perry Ellis and student groups to develop brand strategies and social media concepts. Finally, many of our partners have hired our students for internships or full-time employment.

Why do you think retail provides attractive career opportunities for young people today?

Retailing is the largest industry in the United States, and it is a very diverse industry. It is an especially interesting time to get involved in retailing as the industry grapples with multi-channel opportunities. How will e-commerce, m-commerce or f-commerce affect traditional bricks-and-mortar stores?

While merchandising might be at the heart of a lot of retailing decision-making, there are also critical issues in supply chain management, in real estate decisions, in branding decisions, in human resources and in controlling operational efficiencies and costs. Many retailers are now developing global strategies as well.

Retailing provides a fascinating context for all of these critical business skills. Plus students who have an entrepreneurial bent usually gravitate towards some form of retailing.

You have an extensive background in higher education and academia (as a dean and professor of marketing at University of Miami and a published author in several industry journals, to name a few accomplishments). In a recent interview, you said “being an academic is the best job in the world.” What led you back to The Wharton School and the Retailing Center in particular?

For the last three and a half years I have been the dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Miami. I am proud of the accomplishments that we achieved while I was dean there; we saw a big jump in our ratings, we made some very prestigious new faculty hires and we brought in better and better students to our programs. It was a very exciting time.

Although I really enjoyed being at University of Miami, it was not an ideal place for my family. Since I had spent 17 years at The Wharton School as a chaired professor of marketing and I was also vice dean of the Wharton Undergraduate Division before going to Miami, it was a natural place for me to return. I have very strong ties to the school and to the marketing department.

I also had very strong ties to Jay Baker. Many years ago, when he was president of Kohl’s, he helped me develop a creative term project for my consumer behavior classes. He came to the classroom several times with many of his top executives to make sure that the students had the most up-to-date information to work on their projects. The students loved him, and the projects were a huge success both for them and for Kohl’s. A few of those students ended up choosing a career in retailing once they graduated. I was delighted to have the opportunity to work with Jay again in this new role.

Any retail experience in your background? How did retail become an area of interest?

After graduating with an undergraduate degree I decided to work a few years before going back to graduate school. I worked in advertising and public relations, and many of my clients were in retailing businesses. I became interested in their problems and in creating effective marketing strategies for them.

When I went back to graduate school, I focused my research on understanding how consumers make decisions, why they buy what they buy. I studied brand loyalty, variety seeking and the design of product assortments — all issues that are very important in retailing. I also co-wrote a book on the supermarket industry called Grocery Revolution: The New Focus on the Consumer.

The Wharton School will graduate a new crop of undergraduates and MBA students in May. I’m sure many have come to you for advice and words of wisdom. What do you tell them?

This is a stressful time for students as the job market is more competitive than it has ever been. It is important when students are at Wharton to make sure that they take advantage of all of the opportunities that they have here, both in and out of the classroom. They have the chance to learn new and valuable skills and to form relationships that can last a lifetime.

When looking for a job, now is the time to try and follow one’s passion, to look for a job that can offer a lifetime career opportunity. While one does not have to stay in any job forever, finding a career path that makes sense for the long term is certainly an attractive option. I do think retailing offers that option to students.

Alumni can be great ambassadors for your program and retail. How do you keep them engaged in The Wharton School’s activities? Do you have any stellar graduates making a name in retailing you’d like to mention?

Many of our advisory board members are graduates of Wharton starting with Jay Baker himself! Also, Mohammed Alshaya (WG ‘84), CEO of M.H. Alshaya Company; Roger Farah (W ‘74), president and COO of Polo Ralph Lauren; Sam Haddad (W ‘93), president of Haddad Brands; Brendan Hoffman (WG ‘97), president and CEO of Lord & Taylor LLC; David Jaffe (W ‘81), president and CEO of Ascena Retail Group, Inc.; William Lauder (W ‘83), executive chairman, chairman of the board of The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.; Pierre Yves Roussel (WG ‘93), CEO, fashion division of LVMH; Mark Schwartz (W ‘79), president, CEO of Palladin Capital Group, Inc.; Daniel Schwarzwalder (WG ‘72), senior managing director of Buckingham Capital Management; Steven Silverstein (WG ‘85), president and CEO of Spencer Gifts; and Robert Trone (W ‘81), founder of Total Wine & More …. Just to name a few!

In addition to serving as director of Wharton’s Retailing Center, you are a professor of marketing. What is your favorite course to teach, and why?

My favorite courses to teach are Consumer Behavior and Strategic Brand Management. These are courses that combine consumer psychology, customer analytics and strategic thinking in a creative fashion. They are so much fun to teach.

What else should retailers and others know about the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center and your programs and plans?

This is an exciting time for the Center and for the Retailing Industry. Changing technologies, consolidation in the industry and the move to a global marketplace presents tremendous opportunity for innovative solutions. We at the Center want to be right in the middle of it. We are looking to develop new curriculum for our courses, to create state-of-the-art new knowledge that will be relevant for the industry and to train our students to take leadership roles in the retailing world.

For more about the typical day-in-the-life of a marketing professor, read the full NRF STORES interview with Barbara Kahn.

Valentine’s Day is over.  You bought the flowers, the gifts and shared the romantic dinner. I can’t help but think about a different kind of love – a love for working in retail. What I love about this industry is that it provides a niche for everyone, whether it’s sales, marketing, buying, supply chain or logistics – anyone can find their passion, or love, working in retail.

Some of the industry’s best CEO’s have shared their stories about why they love the industry – the connection with the customers, the challenge of the industry, the theatrics and excitement it brings.  Now, we’d like to hear your story.

Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spencer Gifts, loves how retailing “from Day One got in his veins.” Kip Tindell, CEO of The Container Store, told us he always loved the excitement of retail. “The theater of it. The smile on the customer’s face when you’ve helped her find exactly the right solution for whatever she is working on that particular day.” Glen Senk, CEO of Urban Outfitters, said that retail allows him to be master of his own destiny. “I liked the fact that retailers have control over the products they carry, the selling environment and pricing. I also loved the theatrics of retail. There was a connection to the showmanship I have learned from my days with horses.” Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s, just loves this business. “It’s a privilege to come to work every day and do something I absolutely love to do, even in this very difficult economic environment… I love the challenge because I know our strategy and our organization structure is right and we have the talent to win.” 

We’ll be collecting stories throughout the month of February. To share your story, post a comment below!

NRF: You were previously the President of Linens ‘n Things, spending 11 years there up until 2003. You became CEO of Spencer in 2003, and you’ve also spent time with Bloomingdale’s as a merchandising VP. How did you get into the retail business?

Silverstein: By accident, of course, like so many others before me. My family was in the motel business in Daytona Beach, Florida, and every summer I’d work at the motel. This taught me a lot about the attitude you have to have to be a great retailer. When I graduated from college (Cornell University, Class of 1981), I was preparing for a career with Merrill Lynch. I set up a “practice” interview with a recruiter named David Kanal from Macy’s. He hit all my buttons – how store management is the equivalent of running your own business, how retailing is results-oriented…It was just one of those fateful moments in life where you really connect. Retailing from Day One got in my veins.

How did you move up to CEO?

Back then Macy’s had a 13-week training program. I joined 25 other recent college grads (we were called “The Training Squad”) on the same day in the classroom. One of those trainees is my closest friend in life to this day. We learned retail math, we learned about all parts of the organization. I was assigned as a “white flower” (designating me a department manager) at Roosevelt Field Mall in sportswear. I started out on the sales floor, which is the only way you really understand what’s happening in stores. I moved up from there, over the years. Today I still take two trips a month visiting stores.

You’re on the advisory council for the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative for the Wharton School of Business. What do you look for in new hires right out of college, and what advice do you have for today’s graduates?

I recently spoke about that very subject. We’re looking for people who can articulate why retailing is for them – people who are targeted, who’ve done their homework. With today’s economy, students can start before they graduate and find creative ways to figure out if retailing is a good fit. For instance, Spencer Gifts offers internships. Becoming an intern is a great way to get your foot in the door. Use your network—family, friends, schools. If all else fails, if you really want to be considered for a career at a particular organization, write a letter to the CEO of the company and express your interest. What’s the worst that can happen? The NRF Foundation is also a great place to research the industry.

In your opinion, what is the most powerful characteristic that a retail CEO should possess to survive this environment?

Employees are looking to their leaders to provide a clear way forward in these unprecedented economic times – to help them understand and navigate what they are doing and why they are doing it. It’s more important than ever to demonstrate leadership: communicate clearly what you expect and be open about your company’s performance. Even if it’s tough news, it has to be delivered, told in an honest and open fashion. You have to lead the way.

Read the full interview on NRF’s BIG Blog.