The Baker Buzz Newsletter — Fall 2024
Welcome to the Fall 2024 edition of The Baker Buzz!
Autumn on Penn’s campus is a beautiful time of year. As we enjoy the crisp air and vibrant foliage, we also celebrate remarkable milestones. Congratulations to Penn’s Men’s Soccer Team for securing their third consecutive Ivy League title.
Anticipation is also building as the University of Pennsylvania prepares for the December 6 grand opening of the Jane and David Ott Center for Track & Field. In its inaugural year, the center will host 43 indoor track and field events including the first Penn Relays Winter Showcase. This state-of-the-art facility will set a new standard for training and competition while highlighting Penn’s commitment to athletic excellence.
Homecoming Weekend offered alumni and students a chance to connect and enjoy traditional celebrations and intellectual engagement. Professor Adam Grant delivered an insightful lecture titled "Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know," encouraging us to embrace the joy of being wrong. Professor Katy Milkman also shared her research in a lecture titled "How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be," offering evidence-based strategies for personal and professional growth.
The Baker Retailing Center has had an extraordinary season as well. In partnership with Spirit Halloween, our Ideathon gathered over 120 undergraduate and graduate students for a dynamic and creative competition. Our annual CEO Summit honored Foot Locker CEO Mary Dillon with the Retail Excellence Award and addressed pivotal retail topics, such as Walmart’s strategy of balancing value-driven promotions with premium experiences, the growing influence of sustainability in fashion, and AI’s transformative impact on creativity and efficiency. We also discussed the rise of shareholder activism, the increase in corporate partnerships in women’s sports, and the potential retail implications of proposed budget models from presidential candidates.
Autumn at Penn has been a season of achievements. We are proud of the energy, innovation, and dedication our community brings to every endeavor and we look forward to carrying this momentum into the months ahead.
Thomas S. Robertson
Academic Director
Jay H. Baker Retailing Center
Joshua J. Harris Professor, Professor of Marketing
RETAIL EXCELLENCE AWARD 2024
Foot Locker’s Mary Dillon Is Honored with 2024 Baker Retailing Center and RLC Global Forum Retail Excellence Award
On the evening of Monday, October 14th, in New York’s elegant Rainbow Room, the air was abuzz with excitement. The luminaries of retail were gathered for a dinner to honor Mary Dillon, the CEO of Foot Locker and the former CEO of Ulta Beauty and other major retailers. The event kicked off the 2024 Baker Retailing Center and RLC Global Forum CEO Summit, where Dillon would receive the Retail Excellence Award.
The event marked the third time the Center has given the Baker Retailing Center and RLC Global Forum Retail Excellence Award. Past recipients were famed fashion designer Tory Burch and former Estee Lauder CEO Leonard Lauder. “You’re in very good company,” Jay Baker (former President and Director of the Kohl’s Corporation and founder of the Baker Retailing Center) said, smiling at Mary Dillon, “and they’re in very good company.”
Click to watch the recap on our Youtube channel!
CEO SUMMIT 2024
John Furner- President & CEO, Walmart US
“Innovate for Impact”
On October 15th, the landmark Baker Retailing Center’s and RLC Global Forum’s 2024 CEO Summit was held at New York City’s iconic Rainbow Room. Captivating, distinguished speakers from myriad areas of the retail sector and academia regaled the audience with thought-provoking discussions of the state of retail today.
The talks ranged far and wide: how Walmart is balancing value-driven promotions with premium experiences; sustainability in the fashion world; how AI is transforming retail in terms of creativity and efficiency; the rise and effects of shareholder activism; the boom in corporate partnerships in women’s sports; the potential effects on retail of the presidential candidates’ proposed budget models; and much more.
Click to watch the recap on our Youtube channel!
As a valued sponsor of our 2024 CEO Summit, we’re thrilled to support
DAGNE DOVER'S EVENT IN NYC
This holiday season, you're invited to the Dagne Dover x Wharton Private Shopping Event at the Dagne Dover Flagship Store in Soho!
Join us for some bevvies, check out Dagne Dover's latest bags (including the smoothest rolling luggage around) and connect with other Wharton alums. This is the perfect evening to pick-up last-minute gifts, as Dagne Dover will be offering 25% off all full-price items and 30% off kits! Hope to see you there!
Date: Thursday, December 19th
Time: 5:00-7:30pm with Melissa & Deepa to say a few words at 6pm
Location: Dagne Dover Flagship | 273 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012
IDEATHON 2024
“Fright”-ful and Fun-Filled: The Baker Retailing Center 2024 Ideathon
The Inn at Penn on Friday, September 20th was a destination not for the fainthearted. Spirit Halloween’s “Carnevil” had taken over the ballroom: an animatronic-filled circus of spine-chilling fun. Also not for the fainthearted: competing in the whirlwind Baker Retailing Center Ideathon to win a share of $30,000 in prize money!
Welcome to All Hallows’ Eve—In September
Menacing jagged-tooth clowns, huge jumping spiders, leering pop-eyed marionettes, grisly skeletons, space aliens… Popping out of the dimness to a scary music track, these ghouls set the stage for the fourth annual Ideathon, sponsored this year by Spirit Halloween. In just 24 caffeine-fueled and sleep-deprived hours, student teams would need to wow the judges with innovative, fleshed-out business concepts for making Spirit Halloween even more of a retail success.
Click to watch the recap on our Youtube channel!
WELCOME BACK 2024
We kicked off the semester with our annual Welcome Back event, introducing students to the Baker Retailing Center and its resources. Students had the chance to learn about our exciting initiatives, including the Ideathon, career treks, executive speaker series, advising sessions, and international trips to Japan and Paris next year.
It was a fantastic way to connect with students and set the stage for an inspiring year ahead!
NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION
The Baker Retailing Center was excited to participate in Wharton’s New Student Orientation, where we connected with over 100 new and transfer students. Alongside other organizations, we welcomed the incoming class and shared exciting ways to get involved with the Center.
EXECUTIVE SPEAKER SERIES
Notable speakers who visited campus this fall included:
“We are in a really interesting moment for data science and AI. On the one hand, the breakthroughs that we are seeing right now are unlike anything that I’ve seen in the last 20 years in terms of demonstrating immediate value and capturing public attention, which is incredibly special and shouldn’t be underestimated. On the other hand, we are in a moment where the hype may be outpacing reality. At times like this, it’s incredibly valuable for you to learn enough about this space so that you can see the difference between what’s only hype and what's a real opportunity for data science and AI.”
In collaboration with Wharton Graduate Retail Club, Wharton Marketing Club & Wharton Beauty Club
"There are so many reasons to join a company before starting your own, one of them is to learn the industry from the inside because it gives you such an advantage, but the other is to start building your network of people in the space.”
RETAIL TREK
This month, Penn students joined the Baker Retail Trek to New York City for a day with leaders at the forefront of retail and real estate.
The day began with an engaging session led by Matt Seigel (C02), co-founder of Lantern Real Estate. A seasoned expert in retail and real estate, Matt shared his journey and insights on how the two sectors align, sparking a lively Q&A session with students.
Next, students visited GU, the sister brand to Uniqlo, which recently launched its first U.S. store in SoHo. Tetsuya Kitano, COO of Fast Retailing and GU US, provided an exclusive tour of the space and discussed their innovative visual merchandising strategies and U.S. market expansion.
The trek concluded at Warby Parker with a visit to their newly designed SoHo store, followed by a trip to their HQ. Students met with Kaki Mackey, VP of Communications, Wharton alums Courtney Guth (C10), VP of Merchandising, and Dan Torres (WG17), Sr. Director of FP&A. The day wrapped up with an inspiring session with Neil Blumenthal (WG10), co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, who shared his career journey, Warby Parker's mission and growth, and engaged students in an interactive discussion.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
As a child, Audrey Ajakaye was plagued by chronic skin problems—not only eczema but hyperpigmentation and extreme skin sensitivity. She was taken to one dermatologist after another but nothing fully resolved her issues. That difficult experience led Ajakaye to a passion for helping people achieve clearer, healthier skin.
Ajakaye’s company Audaja is a professional-grade skincare company focusing on skin of color.
“While there are other players in the market, we really hone in on being a holistic solution, offering everything from cleansers to sunscreen. We have your entire skincare routine covered.”
FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS
In Marketplace Dignity: Transforming How We Engage with Customers Across Their Journey, Cait Lamberton, Alberto I. Duran Distinguished Professor of Marketing, along with Neela Saldanha (Yale) and Tom Wein (IDinsight), explores how protecting customer dignity boosts loyalty, brand reputation, and repeat transactions. To achieve this, they suggest three actionable levers to act on in the customer journey, which include representation, agency, and equality. As an example, Southwest affirms their customers’ dignity by removing its open seat policy, reducing customer stress, and giving them more control in their airline experience.
With the rise of generative AI, Wharton Assistant Professor of Marketing, Wendy De La Rosa, cautions the use of AI to encourage consumer spending, indicating that it could limit good financial decision-making. In her paper co-authored with Christopher J. Bechler, Unveiling the Adverse Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Financial Decisions via the AI-IMPACT Model, she highlights that generative AI reduces the pain of payment (the negative emotions people feel when they spend money), and therefore, consumers tend to spend more and increases the likelihood of making a purchase. AI alters the financial decision-making process of consumers as a result of access, personalization, flexibility, and automation.
Resolute Japan: The Leaders Forging a Corporate Resurgence, delves into the resurgence of Japanese corporations by examining a new leadership model that emphasizes long-term focus and disciplined execution. Wharton Professors Harbir Singh, and Michael Useem along with Jusuke J.J. Ikegami (Waseda University) conducted interviews with over 100 CEOs and top executives from major Japanese companies, including Hitachi, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, NTT, and Panasonic.
Their research reveals that these leaders balance multiple objectives—such as shareholder value and social responsibility, short-term results and long-term growth, and agility and stability—fostering innovation, resilience, and competitiveness in a rapidly changing global environment.
Retailers are rethinking pricing strategies as consumers push back against rising costs in the wake of inflation and economic pressures. Strategies like selective price cuts, bundling essentials, and reframing markdowns aim to balance value for customers while maintaining brand equity. In Business Of Fashion’s article How to Lower Prices Without Hurting Your Brand, Z. John Zhang, Wharton Tsai Wan-Tsai Professor of Marketing explains that while inflation initially allowed brands to raise prices with minimal backlash, consumers are now demanding more affordability, prompting retailers to adapt. Examples like Zara’s “special prices” highlight how subtle shifts in approach can address price sensitivity without eroding a brand’s image.
The Jay H. Baker Retailing Center, established in 2002, is an interdisciplinary industry research center,
whose mission is to be the global leader in retail knowledge and education.
