A career in fashion retailing has been a leading professional goal for students majoring in business administration, fashion merchandising, and liberal arts (Kotsiopulos, Oliver and Shim, 1993). Retailing is viewed as one of the fastest growing industries for employment opportunities. Andrew, Carter, Malizio and San (1989) predicted that the number of retail employees would reach 4.8 million in the year 2000, representing a 33.5 percent increase since 1986.

The apparel retail industry is increasingly in demand of professionally trained individuals. The continuous emergence of new retail structures and consistently changing retail phenomena has resulted in the need for adequate and updated educational programs for students pursuing a career in retailing. Much of the previous research (Alkire, 1993; Avery, 1989; Chambers, 1986; Garner and Buckley, 1988; Hymon-Parker, 1993; Kotsiopulos et al, 1993) has focused on needed competencies and coursework requirements for successful retailers.

Table 1. Competencies needed for mid-management and entry level retailers

In the 1980s, there have been a number of studies devoted to identifying competencies needed for retailers. The most highly rated competencies were interpersonal skills, communication skills, management skills, and technical merchandising knowledge such as merchandise/inventory control and product selection. In addition, high ratings were given on specific technical knowledge and skills related to visual merchandising, buying and pricing (Chambers, 1986). Information management and accounting (Salmon, 1989) were also considered as important. Analytical aptitudes including decision making skills (Kelly, 1980), market analysis skills (Salmon, 1989), trend analysis skills (Levy, 1989), and accuracy/attention to details/ability to prioritize (Stemm, Jett and Hayden, 1986) were noted. Further, leadership (Matiotz, 1980), fashion sense/creativity (Wolfe, 1989), and flexibility (Stemm et al, 1986) were identified for students pursuing careers specifically in fashion retailing.

In 1990’s research, interpersonal skill has remained as the most significant competency for retailers. Reflecting the increasing importance of customer service at the point of sales, competencies on the sales floor (Heitmeier, Grise, Force, 1992) and willingness to provide quality service (Braguglia, 1994) have been stressed in recent research. Analytical skills such as data interpretation, problem solving, and decision making skill were highlighted by Heitmeier et al. (1992), Hymon-Parker (1993), and Donnellan (1996). Specifically, Braguglia (1994) emphasized the importance of understanding the diverse cultural and international work place, reflecting rapid global expansion of retail markets in the past few years.

In summary, the importance of interpersonal skills as well as communication skills have remained constant in the past three decades. Analytical skills and decision making skills as well as basic merchandising skills and sales techniques are other important competencies needed for successful retailers. Sales and store management skills have also become increasingly important, reflecting decreasing needs for buyers and increasing needs for skillful sales associates resulting from extreme competition due to consolidations and mergers (Yoh & Gaskill, in press). International perspectives and cultural understandings are newly required competencies for retailers reflecting growth of ethnic consumers and expansion of global markets.

Past researchers have attempted to identify significant retail coursework by surveying educators and practitioners. Throughout the past three decades (1970s to 1990s), principles of retailing and fashion merchandising/buying course have been considered to be most important for retail students. Written and oral communication course also has been one of the critical courses in retail education reflecting the importance of efficient and effective communications with customers as well as co-workers (Garett and Owen, 1978; Garner and Buckley, 1988; Hudson, 1978; Neal, 1981; Swerdlow, 1978). Courses allowing for hands-on retail experience including field study, practicum, and internships have been identified as key content for retail students to better understand the realities of retailing (Hudson, 1978; Hymon-Parker, 1993; Lazarus, 1978; Neal, 1981; Sheldon, 1985-86; Swerdlow, 1978). Salesmanship/store operation courses (Coates, 1971; Garner and Buckley, 1988; Hudson, 1978; Swerdlow, 1978) and courses based on mathematics, such as merchandise pricing, accounting and finance (Coates, 1971; Garner and Buckly, 1988; Hudson, 1978; Lazarus, 1978; Mikita and Van Camp, 1992; Neal, 1981; Swerdlow, 1978; Wolfe, 1989), have also been considered as important content areas for retailers.

In the 1970s, more emphasis was placed on basic background courses in advertising (Lazarus, 1978), consumer behavior (Swerdlow, 1978), and product information/textile courses (Coates, 1971; Garett and Owen, 1978). In the 1980s, store management areas including inventory control and pricing had more emphasis (Garner and Buckley, 1988) and, in the 1990s, Mikita and Van Camp (1992) found that computer science courses were important for retailers.

Overall, much emphasis has been placed on merchandising, basic mathematics (finance, accounting, etc.), communications and on-the-job experience in the previous research. While emphasizing the importance of retail work experience, retailers and educators have recognized the crucial role of internship programs in preparing graduates for retail careers and assisting in the smooth transition from higher education to the retail work environments (Sheldon, 1985-86). Internship programs in higher education have played an extremely important role in bridging the gap between the retail industry and academia. Both retail educators and practitioners are in agreement that internships are a vital part of retail education (Greenwood, 1981; Hymon-Parker, 1993; Jernigan and Easterling, 1986).

Table 2. Courses needed for mid-management and entry level retailers

In this study, top retail executives’ perspectives on the fashion retail education are explored by qualitative methods, providing detailed descriptions of important characteristics, skills, knowledge, and courses for successful retailers in the new millennium. Competencies and coursework that are needed for the future are identified and suggestions to promote cooperation between the retail industry and academia will be discussed. Further, hypotheses for future research will be developed based on findings.

The purpose of this study is to provide valuable insights for retailers and educators by investigating views of the educational needs and preparation necessary for retail students. Specific objectives of this study are: 1) to explore characteristics, skills, knowledge, and courses necessary for retail students in the new millennium, 2) to identify consistencies and changes in the needed competencies and educational requirements over the most recent three decades, 3) to identify implications for the retail educators, and 4) to develop new theoretical propositions related to apparel retail education based on study results.

A postcard reminder was mailed 20 days after the first mailing. Twenty-three out of the 93 executives contacted indicated a willingness to participate in the interview process. Only ten of the 23 respondents, however, were willing to give an interview during the NRF meeting.

Since no discount store retailers responded to the interview request during the NRF Convention, a second sampling procedure was conducted to obtain a telephone interview with a discount retailer. Thirty-nine presidents, CEOs or vice presidents responsible for an apparel division in a discount store were contacted via U.S. mail. Discount stores contacted were those which appeared in the top ten discount stores’ listing identified by Chain Store Age Executives. Of the 39 discount retail executives contacted, seven returned forms and one retailer in the seven respondents agreed to give a telephone interview.

Pretesting of the data collection instrument took place with two retail executives. One participant, the CEO of a regional department store chain, was also a NRF board member. The other participant was owner/manager of a small specialty store. The two informants were selected due to geographic convenience, their innovations and business success. Personal interviews were conducted in the participants' work places and interview content was tape-recorded. The results of the two pretest interviews were not only used to modify the interview instrument, but they were also included in the results of this study.

Ten personal interviews were conducted during the 1996 National Retail Federation (NRF) Convention held in New York City from January 14 to 17, 1996. All interviews were tape-recorded; the length of the interview ranged from thirty minutes to one and a half hours. Dependability of findings was enhanced by the involvement of two researchers participating in the data collection process which allowed the researchers to cross check the verbal and non-verbal expressions of interviewees.

After conducting 12 personal interviews (including pretests), the researchers conducted one telephone interview to fill the void of a discount store retailer perspective. The same interview instruments were used for the telephone interview. Although the sample was limited to 13 respondents, redundancy in responses was obtained during the interviewing process. According to Lincoln and Guba (1985), qualitative data collection should be done until redundancy in responses are observed regardless of the number of respondents contacted.

The 13 informants participating in this study reflected various retail segments (i.e., eight from specialty store, three from department store, one from discount store, one from non-store retailing). The average participant in the study was a 41-50 year old male who was President of a retail store employing 1-50 individuals with 1-1.5 million in annual gross sales. Demographic information of informants is summarized in Table 3.

The thirteen interviews were transcribed by a hired transcriber and reviewed by the researchers for accuracy of response interpretation. The researchers sorted and collectively organized the concepts and ideas extracted from transcripts, generating categories, themes, and patterns through constant comparative analysis methods (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). Further, hypotheses for future research were inductively generated from the data. Trustworthiness of findings was enhanced by triangulation (Lincoln and Guba, 1985), the involvement of two researchers in cross checking of the data analysis.

Table 3. Demographics of respondents and companies (n=13)

Demographics of respondents/Number/Percent (%)

Age (years)

71 or over 1 7.7

Gender

Female 4 30.7

Current position held

Vice president 1 7.7

Retail work experience (years)

41-50 2 15.4

Demographics of Companies

Specialty Stores 8 61.5

Department Stores 3 23.1

Discount Stores 1 7.7

Non-store Retailing 1 7.7

Numbers of employees

10,001-20,000 2 15.4

Annual gross sales (million)

1,500.1-2,000 1 7.7

Number of branch stores

201-250 1 7.7

Respondents identified high levels of motivation, enthusiasm, and dedication as the most important characteristics needed for future retailers. Stressing the importance of accurately portraying retail careers, retailers recommended that educators offer a realistic picture of the retail business.

I would tell them not to live in a fantasy world. Retailing is damn hard work. It is not a glamorous business…I think that it is an educator’s responsibility to stress the fact that the fashion business is not a glamorous business. When you come in [retailing], you need to put in 50-70 hours a week as you begin your career…Today I still work probably 60-70 hours a week. If you don’t work with a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of drive, you will fall by the wayside.

Humility or the willingness to do any tasks needed in the retail stores such as working at sales floor or in inventory storage, is another significant trait that is expected from retail students. One informant explained, "Young men and women who come through most of the retail schools that I have met don't want to have anything to do with working in the distribution center or sales floor. They want to be managers. They want to be queens from the outset. So, humility is needed. Whether it its ticketing merchandise, helping the display guy, or working the cash register, they will learn all about retailing through these areas."

Strong leadership qualities were believed to be an important determinant for successful retailers in the highly competitive retail field. In one respondent’s words, If you are going to be a visionary person and provide leadership, it will make the difference between being successful and merely surviving.

Retailers are also expected to be competitive, articulate, and highly organized. Cooperation and teamwork were perceived to be important for retailers since retailing often represents collective employee efforts.

Specific Skills Expected for Retailers

Respondents identified four major skills needed for retailers including interpersonal skills, communication skills, mathematical skills, and analytical skills. Recognizing the consumer-driven nature of the retail business, informants stated that more emphasis needs to be placed on interaction skills with customers. In the words of respondents, "We are in a people business and a lot of people in a retail business are dealing with customers all the time. So skills with interpersonal relations are extremely important. Retailing is a relationship business. It is really about an exchange between a retailer and a customer. We increase our sales and profitability based on our ability to work with customers."

The increasing importance of interaction skills with customers is due to a retail trend of increasing needs for store managers but decreasing needs for buyers. In an informant's words, "The highest regarded people on our hiring schedule are the store managers. Students always want to be a buyer. However, there are so many buyers in the marker now but there is no need because of consolidations. We are eliminating our assistant buyers who normally were our pool of buyers."

In order to better interact with customers, communication skills (including speech and writing skills) are extremely important in retailing. Better communication skills were perceived as essential to success in relationships with stores, divisions, peers as well as customers. An informant further explained by saying, "I am seeing in my own employees a lack of communication skills. I would have a stronger emphasis in speech communication and in writing skills. They need to get back to a little more basics and you need to know how to write a letter and how to talk to someone face-to-face."

Analytical skills were considered to be critical to accurately interpret knowledge based on observations of consumer behavior in the retail market. A retailer emphasized the importance of listening to the customers and determining what they need as the following. "For the most part, the common line would be the ability to listen to and understand what customers say they want and to translate that into products that the customer will buy…It is analytical ability. You have to plan based on what you have heard from customers and then you have to be able to implement those plans through a course of action."

Additionally, merchandise managers were perceived to need mathematical skills to better guide product managers. A keen sense of cost control becomes extremely important in the current competitive environment.

Specific Knowledge Requirements for Retailers

Participants recognized that knowledge of 1) products and product development, 2) trends in the apparel business, 3) new technologies, and 4) accounting would be important for future retailers. Respondents stated that all retailers, regardless of position, should be knowledgeable of their products in terms of design, sourcing, fabrication, fabric care, workmanship, manufacturing technologies, distribution channels, delivery, etc. because product development will play an increasingly important role in future retail profits. In one informant’s words, "They have to be experts in the knowledge of their products whether they are a buyer or a merchandise manager or product developer. So when you buy sweaters, you have to be very keenly aware of what it takes to make a sweater, what the yarns are, the coloration and the dye."

Additionally, respondents recognized the importance of trend information in the apparel business. Observing people’s clothing behavior, monitoring fashion trend publications, and traveling to European markets were recommendations for keeping abreast with market changes. This trend information was perceived to be very important specifically for product developers. As reported, You have to be aware of what is happening. You can learn what your customers are wearing simply by observing, walking malls to see what people are wearing, and shopping other stores. Product developers have to be people with a keen eye, a keen sense to what is happening in the world. They should be able to travel a lot, observe and bring back ideas that they in turn can develop, produce and apply.

Moreover, computer knowledge was considered to be important in developing efficient operations and in making sound, data-based business decisions. Reflecting on the lack of technology in colleges and universities, one informant stated, "I worked with the school of retailing at _______ and one of my greatest disappointments is that they have no technology. They have one computer for every 30 students and they don’t use them. Also, the system is old. We have donated our computer system to them with the help of our software provider because, when the students go into the industry, they have no clue of what they are going to do in front of retail technology. A lot of what retail is becoming is going to be based on technology."

Retail executives strongly believed the increasing importance of technological knowledge in the retail profession by saying, "A profession means expertise. Without expertise, people will not succeed in business. We lack the skills and the knowledge that we need today to be experts. It can be achieved by knowing how to deal with technology. You have to be able to use all of the technology that is available to them to make decisions."

In addition, retailers emphasized the importance of accounting knowledge indicating the increasing importance of cost controlling and pricing. An informant further stated, "I think that one needs to have a pretty good background in accounting and some degree of finance. We are tracking an awful lot of paper works so you should at least be able to understand an accountant’ mentality. You may depend on accountants or people with that kind of background very heavily but you need to know what they are talking about even though you may not be able to do accounting yourself."

Recommended Courses for Retailers

All respondents placed a great emphasis on the importance of practical training for students who are pursuing careers in retailing. In an informant's words, "I think it is necessary that the students have some real life involvement somehow in what goes in the real world whether that is through training programs or through internships. They have to get involved at the scene. They have to touch, they have to feel, they have to understand what goes on in our business. That doesn’t mean you can’t teach them, but there is a vast difference in preparing them academically for the real world that they are about to face. I think there has to be some programs in the educational and academic system that connects this student who wants to get into what really goes on in the business."

Retailers also believed that meaningful internship programs or part time job experiences in the real world of retailing would contribute to reducing a turnover rate which is one of the most important issues in today retailing. One respondent further explained by saying, "I think the first thing that should happen to the retail students is to put themselves into a work environment so that they understand what they are going to do. Then, they don't end up becoming disappointed, finding out they are in the wrong world."

Emphasizing the importance of an overseas experience to broaden world views and to learn diverse cultures, respondents recommended international study programs for retail students. In one informant's words, "I think that an overseas experience is ideal for a retail person as the same way that most liberal arts colleges have a semester abroad. We have a close affiliation with the textile school at ______ University and they do a lot of that. They send their people to Hong Kong for a semester and they find that a lot of these people end up in our industry. We know who they are and most of them are very knowledgeable…I think that today the world is your market, it is global, and your only passport is your fax machine. So it is very important that people experience world retail."

Retailers also accentuated the importance of a history of retailing courses, recognizing that knowledge of past trends provides a great basis for predicting future trends. As noted, The history of retailing which I don’t see really taught anywhere, becomes a very major focus because I think if you can see the trends of the past, it will help you to focus on the opportunities of the present and the future.

In addition, social psychology was also considered to be useful to broaden knowledge about the needs and wants of individuals. Courses such as human relations, accounting/finance, and consumer behavior, were identified as helpful courses for retail students. Stressing the importance of a consumer behavior course, one respondent said, "An important discipline is marketing. When I speak about marketing, I am talking about understanding consumer behavior and satisfying consumer problems. I think that is really where retailing begins and ends and, therefore, an understanding of marketing and an understanding of accounting are requirements of business in general."

To improve the quality of communication with customers, writing and speech communication courses were recommended for retail students. Moreover, as private label becomes increasingly important in making profits for the retail industry, students were expected to take product development courses. In the words of an informant, "I think they have to know how to develop products and how to source out the products. There are going to be fewer manufacturers out there so they have to be much better at developing the products we hope to sell."

In addition to product development courses, textile courses also received respondents’ attention. "I think textile courses are important. The knowledge of the fundamentals of fabrication [is important] in this industry. We are finding out different things all the time. People loved cotton two or three years ago. Today we are running products that are 70/30, wool and acrylic. We are finding that our older customers won’t touch it and our younger customers prize it. We tried some stuff out of Canada in 100% wool and a wool blend but we didn’t have sufficient testing to understand who was using the product and why. So I think an understanding of textiles and ability to track them is critically important."

Methods for Building a Link between Academia and Industry

Respondents discussed various ways to build a better link between retail academia and industry. Stressing the significance of work experiences in building retail knowledge, several informants indicated that lack of retail work experience among educators was a serious problem in retail education. Retailers recommended regular faculty internships for educators to update their retail knowledge. In the words of a respondent, "I would strongly suggest that retail educators take a sabbatical for 3 to 6 months and participate in a retail operation so that they have hands-on experience in some way, shape or form rather than just theoretical experience. Practicality and reality may be something totally different from theory. Having experienced the reality will enhance the educational experience."

One retailer further explained her experiences working with faculty interns. "We have got three retail professors here from __________, not a single one of them has ever worked in a retail store. They are wonderful people but they don’t have a clue. They can give you all of the academic understanding of what an open to buy should be but they have never actually worked in open to buy so they don’t understand that it can change from minute to minute and hour to hour. It’s like a lot of times an attorney who has been taught to practice law and then when he goes out to actually join a law firm he finds out that he has to start over in a lot of ways because he has learned has very little to do with what he is going to be facing in his practice. Every five years, they ought to work one year in a retail environment and not in a top management position."

In addition to faculty internships, informants suggested retailers attend professional meetings for retail practitioners and invite practitioners to the university for seminars with students in order to enhance the consistency between retail education and career preparation. To provide retail students with a more valuable education, one retail executive stressed the use of case study methods by saying, "I teach a class in retail leadership at _______. In this class, I don’t use any textbook but each week I cover a different company. I try to give them material about a company a week in advance to read and then we talk about that company. What are they doing right and what aren’t they doing right and why. I also give them some examples of my own experience."

As another idea for building an effective retail education curricula, one respondent suggested creating a college owned apparel retail store to provide students with increased opportunities to practice merchandising, buying, and selling.

In addition, there are some competencies or educational requirements that are increasingly needed for retailers in the new millennium. Most of all, knowledge of computer technology is one of the most growing requirements for retailers to better analyze data of customers and sales and to better serve customers. As the development of private label is increasingly important for making profits in retailing, knowledge and courses regarding product development, sourcing, and textiles were also highly emphasized. To prepare for global retailing and international sourcing, an international study program is highly recommended to build strong understandings in diverse cultures for retail students. Moreover, sales and store operation skills are increasingly important to fulfill the growing needs for competent sales personnel. There is also less focus on buying skills, reflecting decreasing needs for buyers in the retail field due to proliferating mergers among retailers.

Most importantly, however, retailers stressed that continuous efforts for self-development and the ability to adapt to rapidly changing business environments are crucial in succeeding in the extremely competitive future retail business. As stated, "There is a tremendous amount of opportunities in the business today. Anytime you go through a great change, there is a great opportunity. But if you don’t change, there is no opportunity at all. If you don’t grow, you will die. You can never stop. You have to continually evolve and grow."

Study results will contribute to apparel retail scholarship by providing insights into needs in retail education as we move into the new millennium. Findings will help educators to develop retail curricula better able to meet changing apparel retail business needs. Based on study findings, a hypothesis for future research investigators was inductively generated and is as follows.

H1: Successful apparel retailers in the year 2005 are more likely than struggling retailers to have:

A. traits of:

1. motivation, enthusiasm, and dedication
2. humility
3. leadership
4. competitiveness
5. teamwork

B. skills of:

1. interaction with people
2. communication (speech/writing)
3. mathematics
4. analyzing multiple sources of data

C. knowledge of:

1. products and products development
2. apparel business trends
3. new technologies
4. accounting

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