Home

Assignment 1: History, Background & Financials of the Retailer
RETAILER Chosen: GAP
BRAND: Banana Republic
Size Run: Mens
ALL IN TEXT CITATIONS MUST INCLUDE AUTHOR AND PAGE NUMBER!!!
THE ASSIGNMENT MIMIC THE ATTACHED TEMPLATE BUT WITH THE INFO FOR MY CHOSEN RETAILER AND BRAND
ASSIGNED READINGS:
Read Chapter 1: Product Development and the Apparel Supply Chain (LO: 1,3) 
Read Chapter 2: Brand Strategy and Business Operations (LO: 2,4,5) 


LECTURE NOTES:
Product development is an end-to-end process that includes marketing, merchandising, creative and technical designing, sourcing, production, and the distribution and planning of goods that have a perceived value for a well-defined consumer group. Product development is not just one job or one role in the supply chain. It overlaps and is defined differently in various types of retail and wholesale brands. To be in product development, one may have a design background, a merchandising background, or a business background. It is part creative, part technical, part science, part research, part forecasting, and always an interesting and diverse area of the fashion apparel business. As you will see, hear, and learn, no two product developers’ roles are the same.  
Throughout the course, we focus on the new product development process in fashion corporations, from ideation, screening, concept development, physical development, testing, and commercialization of new products through to launch. Technology, sustainability, and global aspects are what make it a new development process.  
Yet as fun and creative as fashion can be, it is also a business. A very big one at that, that relies on strategic decision-making regarding the products a company puts out for sale.  Fashion needs to be profitable. Product development helps connect the profitability and business functions to the consumer and a product line. It encompasses a big supply chain inclusive of farms, laboratories, manufacturers and factories, and transportation companies that are all managed by a team of professionals. 
Brands must differentiate their products to compete. They must know their customers’ wants and values. A brand strategy helps to establish the organization’s reputation. What will the brand excel at: transparency and sustainability such as Everlane?  Price and speed as Zara does? Or quality and innovation like Lululemon?  This process must be fully realized and managed by the various functional areas of the organization such as the merchandising division, the marketing and sales division, and the IT division to name a few.  The benchmarks to success must be very clear. 
The Time and Action calendar, the Assortment Plan, and the Line Plan help businesses plan cross-functionally to achieve goals. Sustainable practices must also be considered in today’s customer-driven journey across all functional areas. Businesses must meet the consumer where they are, rather than hoping the consumer will magically come to them. The right product at the right price, the right time, and the right places are all paramount to the product development process and its supply chain members. 
This assignment is aligned with the following learning objective(s):
LO1: Build an awareness of the structural organization of apparel companies and their supply chains (CO5)
LO3: Recognize how brands are positioned in the marketplace. (CO4)
LO4: Understand how a brand’s mission, vision, and values shape its strategic plan (CO6, CO2)
For your first assignment, you will be tasked with choosing a company from a provided list within Collaborations. Please be advised that the company you select will be the retailer you will be using for the rest of the semester, please choose wisely! Please follow the directions below.
First, please choose a retailer, a brand, and a product size range from the list provided in Canvas Collaborations.  
Course Project: Retailer and Brand Choice 
Please go to Collaborations on the course menu to the left. 
Open the shared Excel sheet and choose your retailer and brand by the end of the weekly module by filling in your complete name on the approved retailer list. 
One student to a brand only on a first-come-first-serve basis. 
You will study this Retail Brand for the whole semester so choose one that interests you! 
This is the first of six semester-culminating assignments for your final product development project. You will create a presentation that follows the assignment templates, not copy them.  In this assignment, you’ll provide a brief history, background, and specific financial information on the chosen retailer and brand.
After choosing your company please read through the template for your first assignment – Assignment 1 template Download Assignment 1 template- please keep in mind that this template is a reference of what your assignment should cover and how many slides, not something to copy exactly. When you are finished creating your assignment slides please submit only PDF or PPT files to Canvas.