Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the School of Retail Management
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, the faculty hosted the 11th annual Retail Week and first ever Retail Games.
Retail Week is designed to better engage students and industry representatives through networking events, workshops and panel discussions on trends in the world of retail.
As the retail space continues to evolve in the wake of online commerce, students learned about innovation in the industry and how virtual reality, digital stores and social media are impacting the field.
Students participated in the first ever TRSM Retail Games, speed networking and a charrette hosted by the Canadian Retail Educators Association (CREA).
“A charrette is an interdisciplinary, intense, problem-solving activity that comes from an architecture, interior design background,” said Sean Sedlezky, manager, Retail Management. “We’ve used it in a business case-type format, similar to a case competition where students come together to solve a problem.”
Nearly 50 students from Ryerson University and various colleges across Ontario competed in the charrette over two days. The case asked students to create a retail concept for a 680 square-foot unit for the Front Street promenade in Toronto’s Union Station. The purpose was to try to animate the retail space at the busy terminal, where many tourists frequent.
“Students went to Union Station with Beauleigh, a retail consulting and brokerage firm, who has the contract for the Union Station revitalization. Beauleigh was really looking for unique concepts from the students that would help bring the city of Toronto into Union Station,” said Sedlezky.
Students heard from industry experts, received coaching from mentors and collaborated with students from varying programs.
“From the field tour to the resume experience I built, every minute of the charrette was memorable and worthwhile,” said Niroja Tharmakulasingham, a fourth year student in the Retail Management program.
The week ended with a series of coffee chats featuring retail alumni at the TRSM Pop-up kiosk.
Celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the faculty will continue throughout the school year.
