NEW YORK, Apr 11, 2010 / — Hosted by the Fashion Institute of Technology’s graduate Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management program and the Wharton School’s Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative, executives will explore strategies for success in the retail market geared to today’s tough economic realities at Refocusing Retail: Back to Basics or Back to the Drawing Board?

Ryan Jacoby, Business Design, IDEO, global design consulting firm will be the keynote speaker and the half-day conference will include discussion panels on “Innovative Retail: How to Make Retail a Destination for Consumers” and “The Youth Market: How to Approach Them as Consumers and Employees”

“Innovative Retail: How to Make Retail a Destination for Consumers” – moderated by Wendy Liebmann, CEO, WSL Strategic Retail, retail strategists and futurists. Panelists: Dawn Clark, principal and leader, Retail Design Practice, NBBJ, global architecture and design firm; Kelli Coleman, vice president, Product Design & Development, Disney; and Karen Shadders, vice president, Health & Beauty Care, Wegmans Food Markets.

“The Youth Market: How to Approach Them as Consumers and Employees” – moderated by Marc Gobé, author, Emotional Branding 2.0. Panelists: Jeff Gordinier, editor-at-large, Details, and author, Gen X Saves the World; Kit Yarrow, author, Gen Buy, and professor at Golden Gate University; and Alexandra Wolfe, TheDailyBeast.com.

Closing remarks will be given by Karen Grant, vice president and global beauty analyst, NPD group, global provider of consumer and retail information.
??
REFOCUSING RETAIL: Back to Basics or Back to the Drawing Board

Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 8:00 AM – 12:00 NN

FIT, Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center (D Building)
Seventh Avenue at 27th Street
New York, NY

TICKETS: $125 per person.
Send check or credit card information to FIT
Special Events, 227 W. 27 St., Room C204
New York, NY 10001
For more information, please phone 212 217 4311.