Chicago Conversations - Retail

Chicago Booth Alumni Club of New York City
Chicago Booth Alumni Relations
Chicago Booth Career Services

December 16, 2010: 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

The retail industry employs more than 15 million in the United States alone and is one of the largest industries in the world based on raw numbers of both employees and businesses. In the wake of the economic downturn, decreased consumer discretionary spend has encouraged many industry players to expand into new distribution channels and products. How have organizations shifted their way of business to meet consumer demands? How are they finding and attracting new consumers? How is the eCommerce model being incorporated into traditional brick-and-mortar business plans? Join a discussion with Chicago Booth alumni and retail professionals in New York City who will share their expertise and perspectives on the current retail world and hear their take on the future of the industry.

Where

Citigroup
Floor 14 - Executive Conference Center
601 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York

Cost

No Charge

Registration

Register Online

Deadline: 12/16/2010

Program

7:00 PM-8:30 PM: Panel and Q&A

8:30 PM-9:00 PM: Networking

Speaker Profiles

John Auerbach (Panelist)
GM, Men's, Gilt Groupe

Carla Dunham, '03 (Panelist)
Director of Marketing, PR & Events, Saks Fifth Avenue

Carla Dunham, director of PR and Social Media at Saks Fifth Avenue, is responsible for developing the company’s social media strategy across all platforms and integrating those plans within Saks’s broader marketing objectives. Prior to her current position, Dunham held roles in marketing, special events and PR at Saks, and worked in merchandising at Henri Bendel. She began her retail career at Target, working initially in product development and then in merchandising. Dunham has a B.A. in English from Purdue University and earned an M.A. and MBA from the University of Chicago.

Deborah Weinswig, '97 (Panelist)
Managing Director, Equity Research: Retailing, Citigroup Inc.

Deborah Weinswig leads the Retailing/Broadlines, Food & Drug, and Home Improvement team at Citi Investment Research & Analysis. In 2010, Deborah was identified as the top ranking analyst in the retailing/broadlines industry by StarMine, with a first place ranking for her stock picking and a first place ranking for her earnings estimating ability. Deborah received the first place ranking for retailing/department stores and broadlines as well as the third place ranking in food & drug in the 2009 Institutional Investor Survey. This marked the sixth consecutive year that she received the first place ranking in the retailing/department stores and broadlines sector and the second consecutive year she received third place in the food & drug sector. She also earned second place in the retailing/department stores and broadlines sector in 2003. In 2005 and 2006, Deborah received an honorable mention in retailing/specialty stores.

Jimmy Yeh (Panelist)
Director of Sales, Cole Haan

Jimmy C. Yeh is the director of sales at Cole Haan. Yeh is in charge of wholesale strategic and independent accounts for women’s footwear, men’s footwear and men’s accessories for the Cole Haan brand. Prior to Cole Haan, Yeh was the director of sales and planning at DKNY. He began his retail career at Coach, working first in merchandising and planning in wholesale and then as business manager for Coach Japan. Yeh holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Chicago.

Questions

Allison Jordan 
Associate Director, Employer Development
773.702.2627