Intercollegiate Retail Challenge
The mission of the aspire2retail Intercollegiate Retail Challenge is to build awareness of diverse career paths in retail by engaging university students in a competitive, collaborative role play with support from retail executive mentors to implement a multi-tiered business strategy.
The 2012-2013 Challenge Winners Announced!
Taylor Landings, led by Jerry O’ Brien of the Kohl’s Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, delivered the winning solution to the panel of judges. The team is made up of students representing the six universities as follows:
- Reannah Haselden, Georgia Southern University
- Hillary Haskins, Florida State University
- Panama Marquand, University of Michigan
- Narisa Montero, The University of Arizona
- Sabrina Occiur, University of Florida
- Nicole VanDyke, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Each student received an educational scholarship worth $2,500 thanks to generous contributions from Sears Holdings Corporation, Macy’s, Inc., and Toys“R”Us, Inc. The winning students also receive complimentary registration to Retail’s BIG Show in New York City, where they will present their award-winning business plan to attendees on Monday, January 14, 2013 at 3:15 p.m. during the session, “Showrooming: An Opportunity or a Threat?”
View the 2012-2013 challenge scenario as well as this year's participating Universities and Retail Mentors.
About the Intercollegiate Retail Challenge
This challenge is open to students in a retail or related major. Students are nominated by their college/university program's Center Director. Unlike most competitions each school will not compete against the other schools. Instead, one student from each of the six schools involved will make up a team, making six teams in all. The six team members at each school will role play a different career perspective and will represent one career area in a presentation to retail judges. If your school is interested in participating, please contact Ellen Davis, Executive Director of the NRF Foundation, for more information.
Retail Mentors
Each career position will have a retail executive from that area of operations in a national retail company who will serve as mentor to the team of six students playing his/her role.
That executive will engage in a one-hour conference call with the six students designated to act in his/her role during the Challenge to discuss what his/her role is within the company and why his/her department would be engaged in the activity of the Challenge if it were actual. He/she will also respond to questions from the students and provide advice with respect to addressing the Challenge.
In addition, the mentor will provide information on career paths in his/her area of expertise and will make one or more other associates from his/her department available via email to assist or guide students during the term of the activity.
If your company is interested in serving as a mentor or judge for the Challenge, please contact Ellen Davis for more information.
Presentation
Upon solving the challenge, each team will present their solution in a 30 minute presentation. Each team can use discretion and creativity in how the solution is presented, as long as all judging criteria are satisfied. Executives from the retail industry will serve as judges. The team that is judged to provide the best solution based on judging criteria will win the aspire2retail Challenge. Challenge winners receive a recognition award and have the opportunity to attend NRF's BIG Show and present their solution during one of the educational sessions.
