2. DAY 1
• Chelsea and Theodore is
Leann’s largest and most
important vendor, supplies
most trendy products
• Buyer-Vendor Relationship:
Mutual needs. Leann relies on
this vendor to offer her
fashionable and decent priced
clothes, while Rachel relies on
Leann to buy around 15 SKU’s
for each season.
• Leann put together color
boards and storyboards of
color schemes and styles for
this vendor
• If buyers see something they
think the customer will like a
lot, she orders them special and
gets more units
• 6/30, 7/30, and 8/30 are dates
that the product will be shipped
out to the stores
• Shadowed Leann
Ward: “better”
separates buyer for
misses for Dillard’s
• Buys styles by
multiple colors
rather than by
collection
• Price points above
$59
• Purchasing for July-
November
Chelsea and
Theodore

3. CUPIO
• Buyer-Vendor Relationship: Mutual
needs.
• The representative seemed very
eager to accommodate everything
the buyers needed product wise
because they rely on each other
each season
• The representative had color and
print cards prepared that showed
different options that the vendor
could put on any garment.
• Discussed replenishment of basic
staple items.
•Each buyer has their own
appointment with each vendor after
they have visited the showroom for
the first time. This is when
everything is more finalized and
order dates decided, and the line is
put together. This is called a
rework.
•There are various aspects of
production that the buyers can
change such as the color, the
sleeves, the body, the neckline, and
the material.

4. ALI MILES CALESSA
• Ali Miles is a brand that sells really
well at Dillard’s that the buyers buy
from each season. More “juniors”
age target market.
• The representatives showed the
same exact outdated styles from
the previous seasons.
• Buyer-Vendor relationship:
Solicitation.
• The vendors were pushing for the
buyers to buy more SKU’s than
they had originally planned.
• The target market was
definitely older woman, which
is why Leann wasn’t very
interested in much of the
product.
• Calessa has been in business
with Dillard’s for a very long
time, and the buyers and
vendors know exactly what
each other want.
• Buyer-Vendor Relationship:
Sporadic. Leann does not buy
very much from this vendor
for her specific department

5. DAY 2
• Shadowing Pam
Jones: little girls and
big girls buyer for
Dillard’s
• Buys for girls actives,
collections, tops and
bottoms
• Purchasing for May-
November and
holiday
Miss Me Girls
• Sells more expensive denim
and children’s clothes to
Dillard’s.
• Buyer Vendor Relationship:
Mutual needs. Dillard’s sells a
lot of Miss Me so it is a very
important account for them
which is why they try to
maintain a good relationship.
• Picking color, wash, style,
embellishments, pockets for
denim.
Silver
• Silver is a very big denim provider to
Dillard’s.
• Buyer-vendor relationship: casual-
informal/sporadic. It varies how much the
buyers will purchase from them each
season.
• Buying cheaper denim from Silver helps
make up for missed sales of Miss Me
because it is so expensive.
• Referring to feel of denim: “Nice Hand”

6. Pippa and Julie
• Pippa and Julie sells
higher end little girl’s
clothes.
• Buyer-Vendor
Relationship: Mutual
needs. Each buyer bought
a very high number of
SKUs and was very happy
with the products shown.
• You’re not only buying for
children, but also for the
parent making the
purchase.
• Vendor had her favorite
and most popular items set
aside to make it easier for
the buyers
Moa Moa
• Moa Moa is for “big girls”.
• Buyer-Vendor Relationship:
Solicitation. The vendor
seemed mostly interested in
convincing the buyers to
make purchases.
• They sell a lot of graphic
tees to Dillard’s, it is difficult
it choose the graphics
because they must be
appropriate and also placed
in an appropriate area.
• Showroom was different
because they had a model
trying on some of the clothes
that the buyers wanted to
see

7. Takara
• Takara sells a lot of basic staple juniors and big
girl’s items to Dillard’s.
• Takara just began producing leggings for
Dillard’s. This is because Dillard’s does a great
business with Takara, and Takara was finally able
to get enough materials to produce leggings for
Dillard’s.
• Buyer-Vendor Relationship: Mutual needs. Takara
needs Dillard’s to buy their products because it is
such a successful store, and Dillard’s relies on
Takara to have trendy items that will sell at their
stores.
• Three quarter length sleeve is the most popular
sleeve length because it has a longer life in the
stores.

8. Jessica Simpson Girls
• Jessica Simpson Girls has
been a huge vendor for
Dillard’s for over 4 years.
• Buyer-Vendor Relationship:
Confrontational. The meeting
did not go very well, and none
of the buyers left happy.
• Dillard’s buyers have been
asking them to make some
changes for the duration of
the relationship with no
results. The buyers struggled
to find items they wanted
because of this, which made
me realize exactly how
important buyer-vendor
relationships are.
• Discussed signage and
display issues
Pinc
• Pinc was the original
vendor that provided
Dillard’s leggings.
• Buyer-Vendor
relationship: Solicitation.
This was a hostile meeting
because of this previous
change in vendors, and
Pinc was trying very hard
to impress them with the
product that they had.
• They have the ability to
put leather or different
kinds of materials on the
leggings basically
anywhere the buyers
asked them to.

9. DAY 3- GROUP VISITS
Fossil
• Fossil licenses many
other brands such as
Kate Spade and Marc
Jacobs.
• Watches are turning into
“wearables” because of
increasing technology,
and more people are
purchasing them just as
a fashion statement.
• Fossil’s biggest and
most profitable sector is
men’s watches.
Ross
• In Ross we learned
more about off
price retailers and
Ross as a
company.
• Ross’s buyers are
always in market.
• Ross is a very
successful
company and has
over 1300 stores.
• Buying is done
only one or two
months in
advance.
Jessica Simpson
Dresses
• Rochelle explained that
GIII is the licensing
company and how many
other brands they
license.
• We also viewed the
Guess showroom.
• Guess is extremely
international, however
Jessica Simpson is more
newly international.
• It was interesting hearing
about how the employees
got the GII and their
career paths.

10. DAY 4
Steve Madden
• It was interesting to hear
people speak about the
different areas of their jobs
such as marketing, buying,
and planning Steve Madden’s
public appearances.
• The consumers age range
changed drastically quickly,
from 13-17 year olds, to
including their mothers.
• They have a local factory on
Long Island which
differentiates them from other
companies
Doneger Group
• David told us stories
about how he had to
sneak into fashion shows
in the past.
• We learned what
disruptive fashion is,
which is unexpected and
uncoordinated.
• Forecasting companies
predict trends up to 2
years ahead of time.

11. Calvin Klein
• Jonah spoke about how you
should love all aspects of what
you do and to be passionate about
it.
• This really helped me to
understand how important it is to
actually enjoy what you do.
• The president of core intimates
explained to us that the largest
brand of underwear they sell is
Warner’s and how popular it is
selling to their target customers.
Coach Archives
• This was really interesting
to see all of the handbags
and wallets from over the
years.
• They have their signature
coding including the turn-
key latch, C’s on items,
and the leather they use.
• It was also intriguing to
see how some styles
changed and how some
are very similar to the
styles from years ago.

12. DAY 5
H.M.S. Production
• Mary Jo showed us around the whole
design floor, which was really cool to see.
• They have all the patterns and prints in one
room, and they actually legally own the
rights to the prints and no one else can use
them.
• Mary Jo stressed how important it is to
filter and know the customer

13. WHAT I LEARNED
I also learned new things about different areas and
possibilities that I could potentially go into when I
graduate.
• I had never really been interested in forecasting, but after
visiting the Doneger Group, I am extremely interested in
that area.
• I also have never been interested in sales, but after
speaking with Mary Jo, it definitely sounds like something I
Difference between Day 1 and Day 2: Buying for little and big
girls is different than buying for misses because you have to
have to keep the children as consumers but also their parents
who are actually making the purchase in mind.
• Buying for department stores means you must know your
customer and target market because of the amount of
variety of consumers.
• Buyer-vendor relationships are extremely important and
effect the result of showroom meetings and reworks.
• I learned a lot about the terminology in the industry from
listening to the buyers and vendors interact.