The Stern Opportunity

On Wednesday evening, members of the Luxury & Retail Club, both full-time and part-time students, gathered in KMC to hear stories directly “from the trenches” - from Stern alumni in the retail industry. The alumni on the panel included:

Harlan Toplitzky (Class of ’07) – Toys R Us, Corporate Finance
Sonali Palkhiwala (Class of ‘06) – Coach, Inc., Merchandise Planning
Bree Casart (Class of ’08) – Macy’s Inc., Ready-to-Wear Buyer
Clementine Martin (Class of ’07) – Kurt Salmon Associates, Senior Consultant
David Meir Sasson (Class of ’07) – Elie Tahari, Ltd., Business/Product Development

The panelists hailed from a variety of backgrounds before coming to Stern. Harlan came from the entertainment industry, Bree held a position at Accenture, Clementine worked in brand management, and David spent his pre-business school years in government consulting. Sonali was the only panelists that had worked in the retail industry before coming to Stern.

When asked about their day-to-day activities, the panelists gave varying answers. Coming from a small company like Tahari, David emphasized that teams were generally small in size and employees were required to “wear many hats.” Clementine explained that as a consultant moving from project to project, she had exposure to many different facets of the industry. Bree was given a lot of responsibility right from the start, working on 3 different brands across 500 Macy’s stores. Sonali had the opportunity to work on Coach’s China business, giving her international exposure early on in her career. Harlan rotated through different special projects and was thus exposed to every aspect of the corporate financial structure.

So, with no prior retail experience, why choose a career in retail? Harlan felt that Professor Galloway’s Brand Strategy class was a guiding force. After working on a case study about Toys R Us in class, he was hooked. Bree was looking for a way to leverage her analytical skills from consulting, but with an added creative component. The retail industry had always intrigued her and it had been a life long dream of hers to work for a retail company. Clementine loved consulting and happened upon retail consulting on a whim. It just so happened that she loved it and decided to pursue it as a career. David’s family ran a fashion business so in a way it was in his blood. He also knew that he wanted to work for a smaller company in which he could have an impact and get personal exposure to higher level executives.

When asked if an MBA had benefited or impacted their careers, the panelists all agreed that when aspiring towards senior level managerial/executive jobs, the MBA was critical. In some cases, they agreed that the job couldn’t have been obtained without an MBA. In other cases, they felt that the MBA was helping them progress faster than they otherwise would have. They also emphasized that going forward, retail companies are focusing on MBA candidates more than ever. In fact, at Toys R Us, an MBA is a requirement for a Corporate Finance position, which can entail performing discounted cash flows and explaining complex finance issues to other departments throughout the company.

The major challenges at work cited by the panelists included the ability to be very flexible to the ever changing needs of their businesses. In fashion, the nature of the business is generally fast-paced, as trends change constantly. The ability to manage relationships, whether they be with colleagues, managers, or vendors, and work on cross-functional teams also proved to be extremely important. As is the case with most jobs today, the ability to manage your own career is paramount.

When asked which Stern classes are most helpful on the job, the panelists cited Prof. Furman’s Luxury Marketing class, Prof. Kleinberger’s Retail Strategy class, Prof. Galloway’s Brand Strategy class, and Prof. Damodoran’s Corporate Finance class (no surprises there!!!).

For students interested in the world of luxury marketing and/or retail, Stern is offering a new specialization in Luxury Marketing. The specialization allows students to develop the perspective and skills necessary to pursue careers in these industries. The luxury and retail industries are a tremendously important part of both the US and global economies. Luxury and retail industry companies who have hired Stern graduates recently include Louis Vuitton, Toys R Us, Bloomingdale's, Chanel, Macy’s, Coach, Hermès, and Tiffany & Co.

The Luxury Marketing specialization offers a wide range of courses, including Doing Business in Italy, Luxury Marketing, Retail Strategy, Supply Chain Management, and Professor Galloway’s new Luxury 2.0 class. DBI…Italy takes place in Milan during Spring Break and provides students with exposure to the high fashion and luxury industry in one of the fashion capitals of Europe. Luxury 2.0 takes a look at the impact that new technology in e-commerce and social media is having on luxury companies.

Brand image and intimate knowledge of the customer are critical for success in luxury/retail, as is the ability to understand the distribution system in place for goods. A career in luxury/retail can indeed be a very rewarding path for any MBA graduate. The effects of a globalized culture, the impact of technology, and the changing tastes of consumers are going to continue to present people at leading luxury and retail companies with unique challenges. These challenges can begin to be addressed with solid financial grounding, critical thinking skills, and a view of the big picture…in other words, the quintessential MBA toolkit.

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