Program Overview

Retail Management B.S.

The retail management program prepares students for careers as buyers, store managers, apparel product developers, and sales and marketing representatives.

About this Program

• Display competence in the functional areas of business and their interdependencies.
• Employ logical, analytical and technological skills in decision making.
• Develop organizational strategies taking into account internal and external factors.
• Communicate and interact with others in a professional manner.
• Demonstrate exemplary personal and professional behaviors and apply knowledge in a selected area of study.
• Be aware of and engage in a diverse and global society.
• Explain how the key components of retail strategy influence business profit.
• Analyze the relationship of the key factors affecting profit.
• Analyze innovative trends in the U.S. culture and how they relate to the retail industry.
• Employ business communication (handling objections/building rapport) and selling strategies (customer and competitor research/customer benefit analysis) used in the retail industry.

Program Information

• Degree Type: B.S.
• Major: Retail Management
• Modality: In-person
• College or School: Martin J. Whitman School of Management

Curriculum

This major offers a student-centered approach to learning in partnership with national and international corporations and organizations. Through experienced faculty and visiting industry professionals, the program provides the basis of theoretical and practical knowledge that students need to succeed in the competitive and ever-changing retail environment.

Major Requirements

• Sophomore Year:
  • RMT 301 - Retailing Fundamentals
• Junior and Senior Year:
  • RMT 333 - Professional Practice
  • RMT 307 - Sales and Strategic Partnerships
  • RMT 407 - Retail Buying and Planning
  • RMT 475 - Supervised Internship
  • Major elective (3)
  • Business elective (3)

Major elective may be chosen from the following:

• RMT 314 - Product Development for Retail Management
• RMT 357 - Visual Merchandising and Store Planning
• RMT 457 - Electronic Retailing and Marketing

Extracurricular Opportunities

• Club: The Retail Club
  • The Retail Club is dedicated to empowering students interested in the retail industry. Through guest speakers and real-world projects, the club aims to familiarize students with components of the industry, such as consumer behavior, merchandising strategies and potential career paths.
• Extracurricular: The Goodman IMPRESS program
  • The Goodman IMPRESS Program is designed to provide all Whitman undergraduates with the skills and experiences employers seek, including leadership, communications, certifications, global context and industry exploration. All incoming students are placed in one of four “houses.” Within these houses, they experience healthy competition as they develop their extracurricular skills under the direction of four committed and excellent house masters who teach the introductory business course and serve as their first faculty mentor, along with outstanding sophomore and junior peer facilitators.

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