California Apparel News

After sweating through law and business classes, Matthew Shay, president and chief executive officer of the National Retail Federation, a leading retail trade group based in Washington D.C., got his JD and MBA degrees, but his latest degree was easy.

On June 21, FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising presented him with the first honorary degree in the college’s history. Shay received an honorary degree of Professional Designation in Merchandise Marketing. He also delivered the commencement speech to the 2,000 FIDM students receiving their degrees at a ceremony at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Shay took some time off from his schedule to talk to California Apparel News.

CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS: There’s a fine art to making the commencement speech. What did you say to the FIDM graduates?

MATTHEW SHAY: Simply put, I told them to be unreasonable, challenge the status quo and don’t accept “the mess we’re in”—which is the Latin translation of status quo. Today’s graduates are some of the most talented young adults this country has ever seen, and FIDM has an extremely unique model to bring out that talent and make each person shine: FIDM is an institution that teaches young people to think for themselves, to design for others and to innovate for the world. And in speaking to the 2014 graduating class, I took immense pride in being able to tell these already incredibly talented individuals that retail offers exciting, rewarding and unique career opportunities and that where they start almost always isn’t where they end up in retail.

Of course, I also spent some time telling them my own faults, failures and successes. With that I reminded them what Winston Churchill once said about success: “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

I am extremely humbled and honored to have been a part of the class of 2014’s big day. It is surely something I will never forget.

CAN: The job market has been a tougher place to enter than in the past. What is your advice to college graduates for getting a job in fashion and retail and then getting a better job in fashion and retail?

MS: As I mentioned in my remarks on Saturday, everyone starts somewhere, and entry-level positions in retail and fashion retailing are a great starting place for anyone with a desire to succeed.

Companies such as Macy’s, HSN, Ralph Lauren, J.Crew, LVMH, Christian Dior, Gap and so many more offer positions ranging from accounting and merchandising to marketing and IT. In recent years, specialty positions in the digital and e-commerce space have become some of the hottest jobs in the country, and retail is one of the few industries that put today’s youth in a prime position to utilize their unique skill sets from day one. My advice to today’s graduates would be to expand their horizons and consider working for an industry that is hiring thousands of people every day.

CAN: Many brands are increasingly focusing on direct-to-consumer sales as a revenue generator. Is this a challenge to retail? How should retailers work with brands doing direct-to-consumer?

MS: Retailers have been working in symbiotic fashion with brands for more than 50 years and continue to look at brands as an important, non-competitive part of their business operations. At the end of the day it’s about making sure their customers have access to the products they desire, and oftentimes that includes creating pop-up shops in their own stores and partnering in other innovative, unique ways with some of today’s most beloved and recognizable brands.

What is most interesting in the explosion of direct-to-consumer brands available today is the cross-promotion that retailers and brands are using to reach consumers, and it’s not only brands connecting with retailers, it’s brands connecting with brands. Think of the amazing partnerships between Vera Wang and Kohl’s, and even Sephora and JCPenney.

What may be perceived as a challenge to outsiders is another channel for retailers to connect with their customers.

I actually think this is a part of the bigger conversation about just how innovative the retail industry really is. Each and every day millions of Americans have at their disposal a technology that a retail company developed and/or implemented—including in-store mobile point-of-sale options, voice-activated apps that let them order food, and virtual beauty consultants who can help pick out specific makeup and personal-care items that better match their needs.

And at FIDM, the students with a passion for graphic design or visual communications could easily parlay their talents into a position within retail, where innovations are key.

CAN: What are the most important issues facing retail? The debit card–swipe issue? Organized retail crime?

MS: Decisions made in Washington affect retailers’ bottom lines just as much as those made on Wall Street, so one of NRF’s top priorities has always been to be at the table as policymakers discuss issues that affect the industry. Some of the top issues we are currently working on include sales-tax fairness that would level the playing field between online and Main Street retailers, comprehensive tax reform that is essential to the economy and job growth, efforts to make healthcare more workable, patent-law reform to end frivolous lawsuits over everyday use of technology, and blocking regulatory changes that would make it easier to unionize retail stores.

We also need to fix our broken immigration system so businesses can attract and hire highly skilled workers whose talents are a commodity in the global economy and work toward a 21st-century trade policy that eliminates outdated import tariffs that drive up prices for American consumers. And we need to improve and expand transportation infrastructure that has suffered from decades of underinvestment to the point where the transportation system has become a drag on the economy.

CAN: How has the retail business been in 2014 so far? Has it beaten forecasts? Has it just been OK? Any forecasts for the rest of the year?

MS: 2014 has been an interesting year thus far. Severe winter weather did more than just impact retail sales. It affected shipping and supply-chain operations across the country, consumer sentiment proved extremely volatile the first few months of the year, and there was a great amount of pent-up demand heading into spring. However, sales for the past two months were revised upwards by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and retailers are gearing up for a more stable second half of the year.

We are currently forecasting sales to increase 4.1 percent for the year and, with the immense summer selling season still ahead of us, are hoping to see continued improvements in consumer sentiment, sales and economic growth.