Pic: Macy
The Workshop at Macy’s, a first-of-its-kind diverse and women-owned vendor development programme which has educated and prepared retail businesses for growth, has resumed virtual sessions after a yearlong break due to the pandemic. The programme, which concludes on May 7, is celebrating its tenth anniversary with 50 brands participating in it.
The diverse and women-owned retail incubator fosters and empowers up-and-coming businesses to scale at Macy’s and within the retail industry at large. At the conclusion of The Workshop, participants will have real world practice and perspective on how to create effective large-scale retailer relationships.
Since 2011, The Workshop at Macy’s has helped more than 125 graduate enterprises activate the game-changing curriculum to grow their businesses. Following a rigorous selection process, the 50 participating businesses ranging from apparel to beauty and accessories to home brands joined the week-long programme virtually this year. The coursework features expert advice and mentoring, workshops focused on several retail specific challenges at scale, and access to a host of tools and resources to help participants achieve their business objectives for future growth.
“As we intensify our commitment to the growth and advancement of under-represented suppliers, we are thrilled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Workshop at Macy’s experience, welcoming 50 new businesses to our best-in-class vendor development programme,” said Michelle Wang, Macy’s vice-president, Retail Diversity Strategy. “We created The Workshop in 2011 to foster growth among emerging diverse and women-owned brands. Our coursework and mentoring include a priceless curriculum that deconstructs their business operations, removes barriers of entry and gives them tools to grow their businesses at scale. We believe that our commitment to diversity and inclusion must engage our customers, colleagues and the communities we serve. This programme brings together all three as we continue to build the future of representation in retail.”
The 10th anniversary class features 50 businesses across a host of retail categories including beauty, home, accessories, womenswear, and menswear. The class features brands such as Adara Women, Adjourn Tea, Apple Rose, Aziza Jewelry, Base Butter, Bohn Jsell, Caley Cosmetics, Capelle Miami, Cherry Blossom Intimates, Coco Michelle, Cotton the First, Dauntless Clothing, and KG's House of Fashion.
The Workshop at Macy’s team has tailored the coursework based on years of experience identifying barriers that have slowed or stopped diverse vendor growth in the retail industry.
Created to address common pitfalls, the curriculum provides real world practice and feedback based on expert analysis of each participant’s deconstructed business plan and operations. The one-week intensive programme guides participants through master classes including building brand identity, managing business relationships, financial management for sustained growth, high impact business conversations, and maximising assortment planning and production life cycle.
The group will learn from a consortium of Macy’s leaders, in addition to retail leaders from Babson College, Facebook, Google, Carol’s Daughter and more.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)
The Workshop at Macy's, a first-of-its-kind diverse and women-owned vendor development programme which has educated and prepared retail businesses for growth, has resumed virtual sessions after a yearlong break due to the pandemic. The programme, which concludes on May 7, is celebrating its tenth anniversary with 50 brands participating in it.