Fashion retail giant, Macy’s continues to support community businesses by offering a successful program entitled The Workshop at Macy’s for the second year in a row. After yesterday’s conversation with the creators of the program Shawn Outler, Group VP of Multicultural Merchandising and Vendor Development, and Erin Wilson, Director for Multicultural Vendor Development, I got a chance to understand the corporation’s commitment to vendor opportunities for multicultural and women-owned businesses. The development program is an annual 4 ½ day training course hosted at Macy’s headquarters in New York City which provides a unique learning opportunity to gain industry knowledge from retail experts and specialists for free. The program educates a combination of twenty women and multicultural business professionals to strategically identify niche markets within their own companies in order to succeed in the fashion industry.
After completing the vendor development program last year, four businesses have been selected to partner with Macy’s as certified vendors. Their goods are scheduled to launch this spring as a part of the retailer’s product offerings. The program continues to nurture the small business community while highlighting fresh talent and innovative products by creating a pipeline into the community to develop meaningful business relationships and continued mentorship.
Many thanks to Shawn and Erin from the Macy’s corporate team for reaching out to me and for taking the time to speak to me regarding this great initiative. In order to be considered for the program check out the linkhere. The deadline to submit is January 22, 2012.
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