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STUDENTS EXPLORE RETAIL REAL ESTATE CAREERS

By Kerri Linden

As ICSC celebrates its half century of serving the shopping center industry this year, it is not only looking back. It is also devoting more attention than ever to the industry’s future through an array of programs for students.

Retail real estate is a richly rewarding career for tens of thousands of people around the world. Yet many students complete four years of college without so much as a thought that it exists as a career option. ICSC is out to change that by going to universities and getting students thinking about this career avenue.

As a result, there are now about 550 ICSC members from some 150 universities worldwide, says Sarah Ritchie, ICSC’s manager of leadership development. Student members, paying only $50 a year to belong, have full access to all ICSC has to offer, including reduced registration rates for conferences. And new initiatives such as job databases, specialized newsletters and mentoring programs are in the works. “This is the first academic year we’ve tried to move [student programs] forward,” said Ritchie. “And we’ve had a wellspring of positive comments. We have encouraged students to do things like put their résumés online and [pushed] for members to give internship opportunities.”

Students can post their résumés and view job and internship opportunities on the ICSC Web site. They also have access to ICSC research documents and statistical databases and the chance to enroll in professional development programs such as the University of Shopping Centers at the University of Pennsylvania.

But there is still much to do to publicize ICSC and the industry among university students; Ritchie continues to attend college fairs. “We go to represent the trade and the industry and tell people who we are,” she said. “Many of them don’t realize that we can be used as a resource. If someone wants to intern in Miami for instance, we could give them companies to look into.”

And older members in the industry are more than willing to assist, Ritchie says. “It’s really relationship-driven,” she said. “And there’s no shortage of members who are very strong alumni and eager to help.”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the universities of Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania and Southern California all have standing relationships with ICSC and specific retail programs in their curricula. The University of Florida and the University of Alberta have specific retail centers where ICSC’s outreach complements existing programs.

Betsy Trobaugh, director of the David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research at the University of Florida, launched a program last year that has students visit ICSC and retailers in New York City. “The trip really came out of a brainstorm of how to educate students through things in the industry outside the classroom,” said Trobaugh. “We have partnerships with retailers.”

The program persuaded one student to change career goals. “One person was in advertising school and went on the trip just thinking it would be fun,” said Trobaugh. “Now two of [the students] have internships, one in New York and one in Atlanta in the industry. Every opportunity we have to touch students we try to do that. Students in attendance have no idea about the industry, and we work to change their minds.”

The retail center has 35 retail partners, including Saks, Target, and Walgreens, plus such vendors as NPD Group. J.C. Penney Co. has contributed funding to the program from as far back as its founding 18 years ago, allowing the center to broaden the program for the approximately 1,000 students who enroll yearly. Meanwhile, the opportunities for a career in retail and retail real estate grow every year. “The state of Florida is expanding tremendously with their retail,” said Trobaugh. “There is a large anticipation of growth, and a larger pool of students is needed for the industry.”

Arzu Erenguc is a poster student for the way these programs function. The University of Florida senior worked three years as a buyer for a boutique in Gainsville while still in college. Staff at the Center for Retailing Education and Research encouraged Erenguc to seek an internship at Macy’s; she will start a full-time position at the New York City store when she graduates in July. “I’ve always been a champion of retail, and it was my dream come true to get an offer with Macy’s,” she said. And the launch of her new career coincides with a new relationship with ICSC. Erenguc says she plans to attend the organization’s Next Generation events for young professionals. “Especially at 21, 22, people are moving away from home, and it’s great to have a support network,” she said.

It was an ICSC event that helped put Natalie Sidor, a former banker and underwriter, now an MBA candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, on the retail real estate track. “I ended up attending the Orlando ICSC conference last August and eventually decided retail is where I wanted to be,” Sidor said. During her studies, she interned at Woolbright Development, in Boca Raton, Fla. The experience opened her eyes to the opportunities in that rapidly developing state. Accordingly, upon graduation Sidor will start a full-time job this summer as a financial analyst at The Sembler Co. in St. Petersburg.

Sidor is an active member of the real estate club at her school and is helping students from other schools get started on the path to commercial real estate. “I’ve gotten e-mails from undergrads from other schools asking me what they should do, that they’re interested in real estate,” she said.

ICSC recently launched a newsletter for student members that contains lists of upcoming events, a Q&A with an industry leader and an explanation of features on the ICSC Web site. These efforts extend to students outside North America too. Ritchie says bringing international students to some of the larger upcoming international meetings is on the agenda. And yet there’s room to broaden the programs, Ritchie says. “We’d like to do a better job with undergrads and grad students, but we’d like to go beyond that and have high school students interested.”