University of Arkansas Students Excel in Retail Competition

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(l. to r.) American Collegiate Retail Association charrette first-place team with Scott McCall, senior vice president, Walmart; Andrea Bauza, Ryerson University Ontario, Canada; Claire Purdy, Walton College; Alex Sorrell, Walton College; Anna Watkins, University of Arkansas School of Human Environmental Sciences; Kendra Boling, School of Human Environmental Sciences; Samantha Fung, University of Minnesota Twin Cities; and Claudia Mobley, Center for Retailing Excellence

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Of the 22 students from the six colleges and universities participating in the fourth annual American Collegiate Retailing Association retail competition or charrette, seven University of Arkansas students were part of the winning first-place and second-place teams. Each student on the first-place team received $400 and on the second-place team, $200.

The Center for Retailing Excellence, housed in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, hosted the event, which took place March 8-13 at multiple locations, including Walmart headquarters, the Arkansas World Trade Center and the University of Arkansas Global Campus as well as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the university campus.

In the competition or charrette, participants from the different schools make up a team and work together in a limited time frame to reach a resolution for a challenge presented by a client. The teams were composed of students with skills in diverse disciplines, such as retail, interior design, merchandising, marketing, finance and communications.

In addition to the University of Arkansas, University of Florida, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Albright College, and Ryerson University of Canada participated in the competition.

Representing the Walton College on the first-place team were Alex Sorrell and Claire Purdy. The team also included University of Arkansas students Anna Watkins, interior design, and Kendra Boling, apparel studies, both in the School for Human Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College for Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. There were two students from other universities on the team. The second-place team included Danielle Crocker, interior design, and, Charli Moore and Matt Denton from the Walton College as well as three students from other universities.

 “A charrette is a real-world business competition,” said Claudia Mobley, director of the Center for Retailing Excellence. “We were very honored that the American Collegiate Retailing Association asked us to host this national competition — here at the Walton College. We are especially thrilled that our students did so well.”

The students worked to develop a store-within-a store concept for the client, Walmart. The teams comprised students from multiple disciplines and universities, and they had to work in a time-pressured environment to solve the problem. They presented their ideas to a senior Walmart leadership team.

The students were pre-selected by faculty from their institutions, according to American Collegiate Retailing Association participant requirements. Applicants attained eligibility through sufficient grades, a recommendation letter from a sponsoring faculty member, a resume and a letter of interest for participation. The American Collegiate Retailing Association, coordinator of the charrette, and related faculty members selected the applicants based on their affiliated institution, discipline and expressed interest.

The Center for Retailing Excellence was established in the Walton College in 1998 with a portion of the $50 million endowment from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. The center was created to bridge the gap between university faculty, students and retail industry.