What It Takes to be a Buyer

Through working for The North Face these past three months, I have learned about many more aspects of the fashion/business industry than I ever would have imagined. I knew that I was going to have a great experience here, just based on the job description I was given during my interview over the summer, but my expectations have definitely been exceeded. I have been able to travel to various places (from California to NYC!) and meet countless new people including employees of VF corporation, The North Face, and our various account buyers. From someone who definitely feels more in touch with the visual aspects of fashion such as color, texture, and style, it's very interesting to see the thought process that a buyer goes through. Each account is different, some have one store location, and others have upwards of four store locations. Sometimes an account will have one buyer come in to see the line, and sometimes there are four buyers in the room. A few of the buyers are concentrated on color and style, where other buyers are strictly report based; they know what styles and colors have worked from year to year, and stick to what has worked best in the past based on numbers alone when buying the upcoming line. To be a buyer you really have to be able to separate your personal taste, from your clientele's taste. I know I would be really inclined to buy what I like/think looks good, as opposed to what is most likely to be sold. Another key skill a buyer needs, is to be able to understand other gender/age preferences. For example, some of our buyers are 40-year-old men buying Girl's clothing for their store. As a buyer, you have to know the colors and styles that are not only daughter-approved, but also mommy-approved. Most of us have taken retail-based math classes geared towards buying at Drexel, but they really only teach you the importance of numbers. The classes don't teach you the importance of truly knowing your target market in relation to buying. Color and trends between genders and age groups are vastly different. After working with every type of buyer in the book, it's evident that buying is definitely a skill. It's not something that you can just learn about and dive right in.

Always Something New...

This week at QVC, I find myself still learning and having new experiences. Today in fact, there were singers practicing in the atrium practicing for an event going on tomorrow. I can see by the various events that are held there that the business does really support everything that it says it does. QVC stands for Quality, Convenience and Value and everyday, I can see how this is true both for customers and the employees. The event that is tomorrow is a holiday celebration where all of the employees can enjoy music and breakfast for free. It is nice to be a part of business that cares for the people employed there.

Last week, I had the opportunity of pitching directly to an editor and I can see that I am being trusted with more responsibilities. The pitch to the editor involved me responding to a request that she had and I gave her my ideas. Usually, the PR team asks me for my ideas and I send them directly back to them and they pitch it to the editor but this time, I was trusted enough to do it myself. I feel that I am finally fulfilling my duties and getting to participate in a more direct way than before.

Yesterday, I had to order a bunch of pieces from the jewelry line, Melania. Melania Trump is the wife of Donald Trump and she has a beautiful line that includes everything from watches to earrings. The pieces were delivered today and I had the pleasure of unpacking them and getting them ready for an event tomorrow. Tomorrow, they will be showcased at Trump Towere where Melania herself will be talking about her favorites.

Pictured are the pieces on my desk.

Today, we had a team meeting and talked about how we did this year and our goals for the future. I always enjoy these meetings because it gives me a chance to learn about things that happened in the past that I hadn't known of before. The other thing I enjoy about these meetings is that I get to hear about what is currently going on and how I am involved. When I am given jobs to do, I don't always know why I'm doing them, but in these meetings I get to find out.

Overall, this week was very rewarding. One of the products that I pitched even got placed on a blog! Then, for another pitch, I had to find clothing that was similar to that in the show, Downtown Abbey. First of all, Downtown Abbey is set in the '20s so I had no idea how we were expected to have things that would resemble anything like that, but I chose what I thought might work and it was sent to the editor. Today, I heard back that the editor thought that the pieces were "brilliant" and that was very nice to hear, especially since I thought that it was impossible!

Ferry Ride

                                                                     Ferry Ride

This is my ferry departing from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon, which is another island in Hong Kong and where I am interning at Tungtex. Unfortunately I only discovered this route recently. It makes my mornings, compared to the very crowded train transportation during rush hours, this ride is quiet, scenic and relaxing. Great way to start and end the day at work!

I take the subway three stops to get to the pier and then hop on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes to Kowloon and every 15 minutes to Hong Kong Island. Not sure why the difference in time.  The ferry takes about 12 minutes from one island to the other, which Is actually quicker than taking the train. When I get off the ferry, it is about a three minute walk to the office.

 

I wish I had been taking this the whole time….!

Xx Christa

Hot Pot

        “HOT POT”

A traditional Hong Kong meal, Hot Pot. The group above is employees from various designers and fashion companies, who all use to work at Tungtex. They get together every two months for a big dinner. ‘Hot Pot’ is typically one or two large pots flavored soup. We had chicken and spicy flavored pots. The rest of the ingredients are served to the table uncooked: meats, seafood, tofu, vegetables, and noodles. The guests (us) add the ingredients to the each pot and cook to individual taste or for the group.  The meal last for about three hours with several types of the food groups brought to the table until you can’t eat anymore!

 

Honestly, it was the most challenging meal I have ever had. All of the meats and seafood are foreign to me. Especially seeing the food before it is cooked is tougher for me to enjoy. I typically don’t eat meat but I like to try new things so this night I attempted to go on all in and try everything! I thought it was the best night to do so because I was with my friend from work, Naomi (the right of me) and she helped explain what the items were that I was unsure of. Overall it wasn’t my cup of tea J. But I’m glad I tried it and I had a lot of fun with the group. Hot Pot is very popular in Hong Kong among the locals and they really enjoy it. I like the fact that they stay connected to each other and go out for a big meal to spend time together. A night I will always remember!

      

This was my favorite part of the meal for me! (above) It is called ‘tong yeun’, it is a sweet dough with filling and rolled in coconut. This one was mango flavored.

Xx Christa

The End In Sight

Two weeks- that is all the time I have left for my internship with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce! Time has flown by and I cannot believe it is already almost over. With the end in sight, I now have to think about my goals that are left to accomplish before the experience ends. I have a few particular projects that I need to finish before I leave but there are a few other tasks that I hope to accomplish.

For example, I am having my boss look over my new resume. With the addition of this new experience, my resume looks drastically different from when she last saw it with my job application. I am hoping that she can give me her general feedback but also ensure I have accurately and to my best ability described this experience. In addition to looking over my resume, I will be asking for a recommendation. To be honest, I am not exactly sure how one goes about this task, but I am going to ask friends who have been in my shoes before to gain some insight.

Also, I will be writing a thank you card for my boss and for anyone that I established a significant relationship with in the office. Although one woman was not seen as my boss per say, she was definitely a mentor and even a “cheerleader” for me a work. I owe her a huge thank you!

Finally, I will be asking my boss for general feedback about my contribution to the department and position. I am hoping for constructive criticism so at my next working opportunity, I can do even better. I plan to ask, “What areas could I improve in?” “Was there anything you wish I had done that I didn’t?” And, “What is your advice for a young college student like me, what is your recommendation for my next step in my career?” The end is insight but there is still so much to be done!

Getting What I Want

Working in the real world is full of life lessons and through this lessons, I have recently been faced with a great amount of doubt as to what I want to pursue as a career. In fact, never in my entire life have I faced this level of uncertainty or have even at all questioned what I wanted to do. My plan was to always work in fashion magazines and eventually when I was ready, start my own. But now I wonder if hoping for that job path is realistic. Will I be able to pay off my loans? Where will I live when I graduate? Can I handle a 9-5 job? Why did I pursue such marketing and business driven internships if I want a creative job? My questions go on and on.

It is an understatement to say that all of these questions have been overwhelming. So when faced with this challenge, I needed to find a solution and I needed to find it as quickly as possible. I always seem to turn to Google with my questions, both silly and profound. In my Google quest is when I stumbled upon this book, Life After College, The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want by Jenny Blake.

The book is written by a life coach who helps you to do exactly as the title says, get what you want. It is filled with conversation starters (conversations you start with yourself) and exercises to get you thinking about your goals and how to tackle them. It not only covers the career aspect of your life, but home, organization, relationships, finances, and more.

I have been reading through it a bit each day and I already feel more confident. Through this book, I am learning about myself but I feel that I am standing up to my career challenges and fears. I would recommend the book to anyone questioning what he or she will do once they graduate.

So You Want To Be An Event Planner...

When I pursued my internship with Philadelphia Magazine, I had hopes of learning the in’s and out’s of a magazine, particularly the marketing aspect. I had no idea of the emphasis they placed on event planning to market their magazine. Now I understand that the marketing team puts their greatest amount of time, energy, and resources into events and uses that as their marketing approach. Through this working experience, I have learned SO much about event planning. In the grand scheme, it is an important skill to have but it is also something I have learned that I am not passionate about turning into a career. But for those of our readers that are greatly interested in this area, I wanted to list the advantages and disadvantages I have come across to  being an event planner.

PRO’S

• The numerous awesome events you get to witness. Each event that you execute, you also get to be apart of and enjoy. Although you will be working your butt off at the event, you will always get to take in some portion of it.
• The networking opportunities at events are endless. You never know what incredible people may be there or the doors that could be opened by the people you meet at an event.
• Sponsors always provide lots of swag and free goodies at events. Plus, the event planners usually walk away with leftover food, flowers, or other upscale décor.
• The priceless and incredible feeling of accomplishment. Once the event is finished, people are raving about the event and thanking you for the opportunity to attend, it is a fabulous and fulfilling feeling!

CON’S

• The hours involved with event planning are practically endless. Not only is there a great amount of prep work (months of work), the day before and the day of an event is usually stressful and filled with hidden last minute surprises. The shifts are long and usually very early in the morning or into the wee hours of the night. Also, events are typically held on weekends or after typical working hours (to ensure people can attend) and therefore it cuts into one’s personal life. Being an event planners is definitely an over 40 hours a week kind of job.
• The line between a personal life and work life is very blurred. To be a great event planner, you have to know a lot of people and you have to give up a lot of your time. It may seem that your bosses, colleagues, peers, and friends begin to overlap and there is no longer a divide. This can be a great thing, but it requires you to remain poised and professional in front of everyone, at all times.
• Event planning is so not glamorous. Heavy lifting, cleaning, setting up, and other unstimulating and time-consuming tasks are always present. Whether you are assembling gift bags for hours, putting up signage, or getting on your hands and knees to clean the venue, you are going to definitely break a sweat.

Overall, being an event planner is not a job; it is a lifestyle that you have to wholeheartedly want.

Treasure Each Work Day

Just as we feel that some weeks drag on longer than others while in classes, some weeks seem to be a bit more lengthy than others in work. To get through the more tiresome weeks, I have found the need to insert some excitement and inspiration into the workday. Here is a list of some activities you can do to brighten up your day at work or in class.

• Take a walk during your lunch break.
• I am very blessed to work in the center of Philadelphia where a lot of excitement happens. Window-shopping, park wandering, and people watching are all weekly activities for me.
• Treat yourself.
• Sometimes I will indulge a sweet treat or special Starbucks drink on my break to perk up my day.
• Read a magazine/book.
• I always make sure to take my full hour break because I need it to come back refreshed and ready to tackle my next task. To clear my head it is nice to use my imagination by reading a magazine or book, or perusing something entertaining.
• Meet up with friends.
• If I can plan it in advance, I will make lunch plans with a friend who also works nearby.
• Decorate your desk.
• Put inspirational quotes or fun pictures around your desk. Whenever you eyes need a break from the computer, glance at some happy thing.
•  Listen to music.
• I try to listen to music on my way to and from work. It pumps me up for the day and puts me in a great mood.
• Wear a fabulous outfit.
• Whenever I wear an extra fashionable outfit to work, I always have pep in my step and feel confident in my abilities. Also, I put extra effort into my hair styles or makeup. Never anything inappropriate for work but just an extra 10 minutes of pampering in the morning to feel great all day.
• Use fun office supplies.
• The book I use to take notes is inspired from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and my pens are bright colors. Inject some personalization and fun into everything you use!

Of course I must always remain professional, but it is also important to smell the roses along the way of your working experience. By inserting my own spin on office supplies or walking around the block while on my lunch break, I am being myself and treasuring every day. This makes me appreciate my job and myself more and therefore I put more energy and enthusiasm into everything I do. 

ThinkFest

Innovation has been a recent theme in Philadelphia, seen in everything from business, entrepreneurial spirit, education, and elsewhere throughout the city. This theme has captivated Philadelphia Magazine and to exhibit the fascination the magazine has with this trend, they put together their first ThinkFest event. ThinkFest was a two-day event that brought together the brightest minds in Philadelphia. Philadelphians such as Stephen Starr, Ivan Barias, Jim Gardner, and many more shared their thoughts on Philadelphia and the direction the city is going.

As a young adult hoping to start a business in Philadelphia one day, it was fascinating and energizing to hear the top executives in real estate, city planning, government offices, and the restaurant and music industry share their insight and secrets to their success. Additionally, as a born and raised Philadelphian myself, I learned even more about my hometown and was convinced that yes, this is the city in which I hope to make my business flourish.

I was very lucky because although I was working the event, I received plenty of opportunities to also enjoy the event. While assisting editors and event planners, I observed presentations and overheard speakers stay around and chat afterward (I even tried to get some networking done while I was there).

The event was exhausting, it was many, many long hours, and consisted of lots of heavy lifting, event prep, and event clean up. However, I was able to be apart of something big for the city of Philadelphia. When the event was over I felt bonded with my team and bosses, and was also proud of myself for making it through the exhausting hours of work. Not only was it rewarding to help make the event happen, but I received a once in a lifetime learning opportunity. 

The Best and Worst

As my final blog post for my internship with BCBG, I find it appropriate to highlight the best, and worst, times I have had throughout it. Overall, it was definitely a great experience, but New York can prove very challenging at times and there were definitely some obstacles.

Consequently, I would say my worst experience while working and commuting to Manhattan was when I was stuck on the Bolt Bus from six in the morning until eleven-thirty in the afternoon. This was one of the worst experiences I have had in terms of commuting and the complete frustration of it. Not only did we pass an accident, we also sat outside the Lincoln Tunnel for an entire hour, not moving at all. I was three hours late for work, and very uncomfortable from being on a bus for nearly six hours. My bosses were very understanding, and did not mind that I was late. I will never forget how terrible that bus ride was.

Now for the best, which is just as challenging to highlight as the worst, as I have had so many great experiences in Manhattan. Therefore, I find it appropriate to say that my greatest experience was Manhattan as a whole. I was able to explore the fashion district, see the art scene in Brooklyn, shop at fashion magazine stores, and buy divine ice cream sandwiches. All of this would only be possible to accomplish in a city as amazing as New York.

Street Art in Brooklyn

Early on in my internship in Manhattan, I was sent on a task that would lead to something that I couldn’t deny was life changing. I was sent on the subway with a bag to deliver in SoHo near Prince Street. After I dropped off the bag and was headed back, I walked by a street vendor and noticed his paintings. They were favorable to my aesthetic and I really liked a lot of them. After I had been stopped a few seconds, the artist came over to talk to me. He turned out to be a young guy only a few years older than me. I told him I was really interested in his work, but I would have to come back to make a purchase as I was on the job. He gave me a business card with the link to his blog, and his phone number so I could text him after work to see if he would be there still.

As I got on the subway, I accessed his blog on my phone and looked at his work. It was street art with amazing typography and collage. I sent one image to my roommate to see if she liked the painting also, which she did. I texted him to arrange the purchase after work, and headed back to Prince Street after work. When we met, we began to talk and I learned he was a street artist from Idaho who lived in Brooklyn.

It turns out, we met up for drinks one night a few weeks later. I was eager to have someone show me new parts of New York. I had no idea what I was about to experience. The second time we met up, it was to attend a pop up sneaker shop that was throwing an opening party for their promotion of a few local street artists, including the work of my new friend. The party was like nothing I had experienced, with a local DJ in the basement and walls with markers hung up open for people to graffiti or contribute art.

I have attended several art parties and gallery openings in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan since. It is such a new and different culture than anything I have experienced yet. As a designer, the work that these people do is amazing. I would have never known such talented people were doing this. My friend had his own debut at a gallery downtown. I got to watch him work on pieces for the show for months, and the final product was amazing. There were tons of people there, as well as artists. It was all an amazing experience, and has opened my eyes to new kinds of people and cultures that are in Manhattan.

New Adventures at Work

A few weeks ago at work, I was asked by my supervisor to go and buy ice cream sandwiches for one of the P.R. coordinators birthdays. He gave me petty cash, and said I should go to this new place that opened called Smush near Bryant Park. Although an odd assignment, I was excited to walk through the city and to check out a new place.

I was in love with Smush when I walked in. It was a modern ice cream shop with amazing street art on the walls. There was only one guy working behind the counter, but the shop was empty aside from one homeless man standing in the corner who wanted some ice cream. I asked the guy working there who did the art for the shop, and he told me it was a local artist in New York who is friends with one of his co-workers. My boss had asked me to get an assortment, so I asked him to just make me fifty dollars worth of their most popular ice cream sandwiches, which he found amusing. Once he began to work, I realized these ice cream sandwiches were borderline on an art form. He began with a cookie that is shaped like a slice of short bread. Next came a hefty square of ice cream, of course in a variety of flavors and colors. On top of the ice cream came thin swirled slices of fudge, layers of various toppings and drizzles, followed by another cookie to complete the sandwich. He sliced them diagonally like a grilled cheese. I was so fascinated with the sandwich making process I did not even notice the homeless man had began taking a few steps closer to me. I came out of my daze and went to the other side of the register away from him. He got the hint, and left. The sandwich man found this entertaining and we talked about the unfortunate homeless population in Manhattan.

I left the store forty-six dollars, thirty minutes, and 7 ice cream sandwich’s later. I definitely planned on coming back to Smush after work one day. My supervisor was thrilled with the cookies. The only unfortunate part of the experience was that I was unable to try any of them, as I had to leave early in the day to get back for class. Hopefully I will get to stop in again and try those amazing sandwich masterpieces myself. 

Final Week at Work

This past week was my last few days at my internship with BCBG. As hectic as the office can get with less and less interns, I still enjoyed my last few days there. As it was just me, or one other girl and I for the week, we took on many new responsibilities and had the chance to talk more with our supervisors.

I had the opportunity to talk outside with one of my supervisors on a stressful day, and discuss the infamous topic of retail and career possibilities. I explained to him that although I enjoyed my internship, I feel much more comfortable in a retail setting than in an office. He completely understood where I was coming from, as he had worked in retail before as well. He was not as big of a fan of it as I am, which is common for most people. He told me how that was not a bad career choice and can be just as lucrative as an office job. We talked about the possibilities of visual merchandising teams that work in retail, as well as management positions. He definitely helped me to feel more confident with my feeling that retail may be a better career path for me than working in a corporate office.

It ended up becoming so hectic on my last day that we all almost forgot. As I walked out and said bye, my supervisor said “See ya tomorrow”, and when I told him he wouldn’t, everyone leaped up. They all felt so terrible that the day had slipped by and we had all forgotten it was my last day. The manager asked me if I had taken any samples from the back as a going away gift. Luckily, my supervisor had already given me a blue skirt and leather jacket earlier in the day. They invited me back to intern during the runway shows in the winter, and I told them I definitely would like to do that. They all thanked me and hugged me as I left, and I felt confident that I had made a good impression on the team and an attachment to the company. 

Another Warm Winter

As my days in NYC are coming to a close, I'm really starting to realize how much I am going to miss the work I am doing there. I only have two more work weeks in the NYC showroom. I have met so many different people and learned so much. Everyday I meet store owners and buyers for specialty stores as well as big-box stores such as Macy's and Bloomingdale's, so there is definitely a wide range of people that I meet. It's very interesting to see how the economy and weather has switched up the outdoor retail game. That is always a topic of discussion between us and our accounts. Many people think it is odd that the weather is so warm, but aren't complaining about it. However, now that I work for The North Face I've never met so many people that wish for cold weather! Even though The North Face is such a huge brand, they are still being affected by the economy and weather in a huge way. Weather forecasts say that the weather is supposed to be cold next month, so we'll see. Hopefully it gets cold before Fall apparel goes on sale. Hope everyone had a good week!

Full Circle

I can't believe how fast this internship has been.  Fashion Week seems almost like yesterday.  This week I started and finished creating new cost sheets for Pre-Fall 2013.  What?!  I cannot believe I have been with the production team this long!  My first day I had to create cost sheets for Spring 2013 and then I immediately saw the runway show.  Normally for Pre-Fall and Pre-Spring (Resort), the collection is much smaller than Spring and Fall.  They are more consumer based and tend to pull similar styles from past seasons that have done really well.  They're tweaked a little though.  I'm finding that I really like this new collection a lot and would definitely wear almost all of the pieces myself.  I find myself leaning more towards skilled designers who are able to transition runway to actual retail stores.  I feel as though a lot of designers lose sight as to who their customers are at times and want to create the most crazy and innovative thing.  But what is the point of creating something if it isn't wearable?

QVC, a 24/7 Job

Most people that know of QVC know that it is a business that runs 24/7. What a lot of people don't know is that it also runs 364 days a year, Christmas is the only day that the programming is not live. That's not to say that the shows shut down completely, there is actually new programs during that day but they are just not shot live. Although I am in PR and not in the studio, I have still come to realize that the job is still happening every minute of everyday. Right now for instance, as I am writing this post, I am watching QVC.

I have found myself watching QVC more and more. I think that is because it is so cool to see the things on TV that I have physically worked with and pitched to magazine editors. Just now, Joan Rivers was on showing some of her new merchandise and one of the bracelets on the show is one that I took to be photographed a few weeks ago at the weekly photo shoot that I am in charge of handling. (Without fail, I have another one tomorrow!)

There are so many familiar products and show hosts on TV that I see and work with on a daily basis; it is still unbelievable to me that this is what I do as my co-op. Sure, there are run of the mill things that happen and of course it isn't all glamourous, but seeing the place I work at on TV is definitely a cool factor of my job. I love being able to learn more about the products that I work with because it helps me to do my job at work. When an editor is asking for something, it is very important to know what kind of inventory we have, so watching on TV and learning more is definitely rewarding when it comes to creating a pitch.

A lot of exciting offers are going on at QVC right now and it's fun to see all of the new products for the Holidays and the New Year. Although most of the pitches that I'm doing right now are for the Spring months, there are still some last minute pitches that need to get done before the holidays. This week, I have been working on a few pitches focused on the new year. One is "New Year, New You" and the other is "Fitness & Wellness in the New Year." The New Year, New You pitch is about different things that a woman would want in a new year. There are clothing pieces to dress up and down along with accessories and jewelry. The Fitness & Wellness is pretty self explanatory, but I actually learned a lot while doing it because I didn't realize how much we offer for exercise and fitness. There are so many weight loss products as well as exercise DVDs and much more. One of the products that I was really surprised to see is P90X!

I am continuously learning new things and being surprised by the work that I do. Last week I was so busy that I forgot what it was like to have down time! Now, it is slowing down a little bit, but not much. I am finding a lot of ways to keep myself busy and keep working on ongoing projects that don't need to be done right away. It's time that I go back to work now. (Back to watching QVC on TV that is!)

A Wish Come True- Slow Week

Hello everyone! The holidays are approaching and it is finally December! I am really looking forward to the eruption of holiday spirit everywhere!

I would like to start off and say that this week was a hard transition after the three day week last week. It was really slow and crawled by. I had to do a lot of printing out labels and pinning them to the costumes so they could be sewn in. It got really tedious to the point where I needed to take breaks and do other filing and invoices so that I would be able to get a lot more done. Steph and I broke down the booth by moving all samples that were correctly tagged out to stock and breaking down the lights and posters. It was a rough week in that respect.

Even though this week was extremely slow and tedious, I actually took this as a type of realization. Sometimes, work is truly work. As with anything a person does, there are steps in getting from one point to the other. In order to get the room ready for the photo shoot this week, I needed to be the person to break down the booth and get everything moving along in there.

On a more exciting note, I did get to sketch and swatch four custom orders! They were based off of our styles, but made into creatures: a spider, a mosquito, an ant, and a ladybug. I am not sure what kind of dance number the woman is planning on doing, but sketched out they looked pretty interesting!

Well, have a good week everyone! Break out your ugly sweaters and get ready for the holiday season!
-Victoria

To Be a Rep for a Day

This week working out of the NYC North Face show room was very busy as usual! In NYC, I am assisting our reps in showing our accounts the Fall 2013 line. However, this week was a little different because I got to do some sales presentations myself. The reps will have various appointments throughout the day, and sometimes the appointments overlap which is when having an intern in the office helps. I presented footwear (mens, womens, and youth), equipment (backpacks, luggage, daypacks mens, womens, and youth) , and accessories (gloves, hats, scarves mens, women, and youth) to two of our accounts this week. When presenting, I go over colors, prices (wholesale/retail), and focus on the new technologies that are a part of our upcoming line. At first, I was very nervous to present the line, even though I know the product very well. The second time presenting the line came very naturally, and I wasn't nervous at all. I was very happy to be given that responsibility and opportunity. Also this week, I worked on some excel projects for Macy's/The North Face to pinpoint information on Macy's competitors.
     Also, this week we discussed Black Friday and Cyber Monday with all our accounts. Most of the stores said that since they are specialty stores, Black Friday isn't a huge money day for them. They also said that with Cyber Monday becoming the new Black Friday, it makes that Friday really insignificant to their customers. Sandy has been a very important topic of discussion for us and our accounts as well, and how the storm has affected them and their selling. Homes, cars, and businesses were lost which obviously had a HUGE impact on these stores, but the gas issue seemed to affect them just as much. Even if people were able to go out and shop, most people didn't because of the crazy gas lines. Hopefully, with the holiday season in full swing these stores will begin to sell lots of merchandise to help cover their losses.