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ON-THE-JOB EXPERIENCE

A UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PROGRAM IS TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF RETAIL LEADERS

By Kerri Linden

Amy Brown is not just another college student clerking at a store for extra cash. Few on any campus are as serious about their work as she. Brown, a senior at the University of Arizona, works 30 hours a week at the Tucson Mall as a manager of the A-Store, which sells university-branded apparel and other kinds of merchandise. She oversees a staff of six, handles hiring and scheduling, designs the visual displays and negotiates with vendors, among other tasks.

Unlike other working college students, though, Brown does not schedule her work around her studies. Instead, the work at the store constitutes part of her studies. The A-Store is the product of a partnership between General Growth Properties, owner of the mall, and the University of Arizona.

Retailers that find themselves uncomfortably reliant on a large population of soon-to-retire boomer executives see students like Brown as a vital asset. These retailers hire consultants and otherwise scramble to come up with training programs to help replace those retirees. "One concern is the talent pool on the retailer side," said Robert A. Michaels, president and COO of General Growth Properties, in a conference call with investors. "Retailers that are doing the best have the best talent. But the talent is very, very thin across the board."

In 2005 a partnership between the University of Arizona's bookstore, SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) and General Growth created the education-oriented, student-run A-Store in an 800-square-foot space at the 1.3 million-square-foot Tucson Mall. The university, who approached General Growth for the deal, pays the rent on the space.

In September a second A-Store opened, this one in the Park Place Mall, another General Growth center in Tucson. The center, a popular hangout among many of the university's 37,000 students, attracts older crowds, too, and is thriving. Both malls are about 15 minutes from the campus, which takes up most of the downtown.

Frank Farias, director of the university bookstore, says there are no plans to expand beyond these malls for now, though he asserts that this is no reflection on the stores themselves. "There's been competition even between the two existing stores," he said. "It's teaching the kids how to be competitive, to learn about selling and buying and the responsibilities that go along with it, not just being a clerk."

The student workers are given freedom to be involved in all aspects of running a retail enterprise. Brown says that when she started, the store was full of merchandise that appealed to older customers. She decided to bring in apparel geared to a younger crowd. The zip-up hoodies and other items she put on the racks did very well, she says. "The merchandise wasn't really appealing to younger shoppers," she said. "I was able to sit down with the buyer and bring my ideas in, and all the new apparel sold out very quickly."

The university bookstore's management supervises the overall operation but stays in the background as far as day-to-day workings are concerned. The students open and close the stores each business day and handle all the transactions.

Students are paid wages equal to those of other mall employees and earn college credit - up to nine per semester, for roughly 400 hours of work at the A-Store. "We wanted to create a new national model for collegiate bookstores, beyond the simple exchange of product for money," said Farias. "It's become intrinsic to our mission of education - a methodology of giving students practical experience."

In the store, students concentrate on up to two out of four categories per semester - training and scheduling, marketing, merchandising or buying. A student who completes all four categories may apply to become a manager.

General Growth was only too happy to have the university open a second store. "They have a great product that has a local demand," said Bill McDermid, vice president of asset management at General Growth, who until 2005 oversaw the company's properties in Arizona and New Mexico. "It provides a unique element at our Tucson centers." General Growth also felt it could make a major contribution to the university's retail program by adding a real estate focus. "They were missing an entire segment of the industry," McDermid said. "We're working on improving and increasing our professional training and recruiting programs, and through the A-Store, kids have now seen that maybe they're interested in leasing, where they once thought they wanted to be a store manager."

The hands-on lessons are combined with full-time classroom enrollment as retailing and consumer-sciences majors. The A-Store program is closely tied to the university's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing, which is part of the John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences. The school, founded in 1993, was named after Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy's, after he made a donation to it in 2004. The program now has some 30 retail and industry partners that contribute resources for the 400 students enrolled.

"The program encourages strong critical thinking, and strong understanding of the business," said Melinda Burke, director of the Lundgren Center for Retailing. "The students are able to hit the ground running."

Most of the student workers are young women, as are many in the program. Burke says many come into the program with an interest in fashion, say, and then discover a more specific career path, sometimes outside the original area of interest.

Retailing majors are required to take accounting, statistics and economics before they can enroll in the retailing classes covering consumer behavior, supply chain management and similar topics.

Kari Steffens, a student manager who graduated last year, says juggling the classroom and job hours - she puts in 30 hours per week at the A-Store - is difficult but worthwhile. "I felt like I was doing a lot on my own," she said. Originally interested in marketing, Steffens entered the program unsure of where she would end up. After interviewing with JCPenney, Macy's and other chains, she returned to the Lundgren Center for Retailing in August as an administrative assistant and is now coordinating various SIFE programs. The program no doubt gave her access to many more post-college opportunities, she says. "When I was interviewing, it helped to talk about being involved in the A-Store and what I did," she said. "I felt I was a much better candidate."

Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, Sears and Wal-Mart have all employed University of Arizona retailing graduates. "The program is helping [the students] get a better understanding of what a career in the industry could look like," Burke said. "It's developing them into very strong candidates."

Brown says that before her involvement in the program, she knew she was interested in retail and marketing, but was unsure of an approach. In her senior year she applied to be an A-Store manager on a whim and found her passion. "Through learning about buying and product development, I've really learned that that's what I want to do," she said. "I love working the storefront and managing, and I wouldn't have known that without the program."

Many who enter the A-Store find merchandise. Others find a career.