Main RMI Number
408-554-4960
SCU - St. Joseph's Hall
Room # 108
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Retail Management Institute Newsletter Winter '03
RSSA's Macy's Tour
By Carin Posedel '04
On January 30, 2003, a group of Santa Clara Retail Management students had the opportunity to visit the corporate headquarters of Macy’s West and explore what it really means to work behind the scenes of one of the nations biggest retailers. Our generous and knowledgeable tour leader and manager of college relations, Eleni Kanelos, organized a half-day packed with interesting and important information about the industry.
We began the day with a heartfelt welcome and brief overview of the company, gaining impressive facts regarding it’s annual revenues of $16 billion, diverse employees and cutting edge technology. Not only did we find out these facts, but we became familiar with their effects throughout the tour.
Following the overview, we visited the buying and planning offices. We given the unique opportunity to poke our heads into the offices of working buyers and planners, but we also met with the manager of all buyers in that particular area. It was amazing to see how much autonomy one person can have over such a large corporate business, and it was empowering for me to know that Macy’s employs many women in such positions.
This tour was not restricted to corporate headquarters. Eleni brought us to the Macy’s store in Union Square where we met with the manager of public relations and were given the tour of the entire store. Insight into how racks of clothes are positioned for customer convenience, how their relationship with the Cheesecake Factory brings in business, and how Macy’s can effectively cater to all people who enter the store were just some of the concepts we came to understand.
The tour was followed by a career panel where professionals who work for Macy’s were present to answer any questions we had about what it means to work for a retailer, behind the scenes and on the floor.
It is such a great opportunity to visit the headquarters of an industry leader like Macy’s West. The students of the Retail Studies Student Association gained much knowledge about the business of direct-to-customer retailing. Learning about storeline, buying, and planning were important to each of our career paths. With this experience, we have a greater understanding of how job titles actual function in the retail world. Macy’s has training programs in all three of these areas and would be a compelling and rewarding place to learn even more in the future. |
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Retail Management Institute - Santa Clara University
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