Fashion merchandising students vie for national prize
Four students in fashion merchandising and design at Virginia Tech will compete this spring in a national business case competition sponsored by Kohl’s Department Stores.
The students will have four weeks to research the case and write their recommendations, which they will present to a panel of Kohl’s senior managers at the company’s Milwaukee, Wisconsin, headquarters March 24-25. All expenses for the students’ trip will be paid by the company.
The team, one of 12 from universities across the United States, will compete for a $5,000 prize in the inaugural Kohl’s Invitational Case Competition. Virginia Tech is the only Virginia school represented.
“This is a great opportunity for our fashion merchandising and design students,” said Professor Julia O. Beamish, head of the Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. “Besides challenging themselves as they compete, they will learn firsthand about the retail industry and the career options open to them.”
The students are:
- Catherine Balzer of Stafford, Virginia, a senior majoring in fashion merchandising and design with a minor in business;
- Amanda Brown of Marriottsville, Maryland, a senior fashion merchandising and design major;
- Kayla Franco of Mechanicsville, Virginia, a senior majoring in fashion merchandising and design with a minor in communications; and
- Katherine Roulston of Woodstock, Virginia, a senior fashion merchandising and design major.
Doris Kincade, a professor of fashion merchandising and design in the Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management, is working with the team as an advisor. “This is a terrific team of energetic young women who have already started background research and visited with regional store managers,” Kincade noted.
Kohl’s is a publicly traded corporation that operates more than 1,100 department stores in 49 states. Its Roanoke location is one of 28 in Virginia.
