An annual visit to New York City has become a tradition for the Department of Retailing and the University of South Carolina student chapter of the National Retail Federation (NRF). It offers students experiential learning opportunities including attending the NRF Foundation Student Program with students from around the world as well as private meetings and tours with industry leaders.
The trip has been a big part of the college experience for senior retailing major Abby Foy. Abby has been part of the trip in all four of her years at USC, and this year helped plan it in her role as USC NRF president and NRF university ambassador.
“[Department of Retailing Interim Associate Chair] Mike Watson was more in charge of the site visits that we did, but I was in charge of coordinating all the students and making sure they were prepared for the conference, knew what they were expecting, got there on time,” Abby explains. “So I had to coordinate flights and hotels, make sure they got where they needed to be. Some students weren’t 21, so I had to find hotels they could check into, which was a struggle in New York City. And then just making sure everybody was prepared, had their resumes, knew how to act, how to dress, all that. The conference was planned, but my job was making sure everybody else felt prepared going into it.”
It was a big task, but one Abby’s experiences prepared her for, and the sort of opportunity the College of HRSM makes available to outstanding students like her. An NRF member since her first year, she served as the student organization’s executive assistant as a junior. In the spring semester of her junior year, she was chosen by faculty and peers as well as NRF leadership to serve as president of the USC NRF chapter and as NRF’s campus ambassador.
“Being an NRF ambassador has been one of my favorite experiences in college.it's been so amazing getting to meet all the members and I love leadership, especially organizational roles and that's exactly what this was,” she explains. I'm really passionate about things like LinkedIn and resume prep, so getting to teach everybody else what I've been taught over the past four years has been really fun. And of course the people aspect: everybody in the club is so driven and passionate about retail, which is my favorite part about it.”
The USC NRF chapter met every two weeks during the fall semester of 2025, with Abby organizing workshops and scheduling guest speakers, as well as preparing the group for the NYC trip in January.
This year’s group of 16 students, accompanied by four faculty and staff members, included quite a few students experiencing the NYC trip for the first time. Even for veterans like Abby, there were new sights to see, as Watson prepared a slate of visits to businesses not on the agenda in previous years.
“This was the first year that we've done all new site visits, which was really cool. So we did Nike, Veronica Beard (an up and coming luxury brand) Argent (an up and coming ladies’ work wear luxury brand), and then MasterCard, which is nice for our students who are more tech driven,” Abby says. “And then we also did Michael Kors. It was so inspiring to hear from passionate retail professionals and learn about their careers in the industry”
The group also had plenty of free time to explore and enjoy New York, and there too Abby was able to offer advice and suggestions.
“It definitely was nice knowing what was happening going into it. Especially the freshmen and sophomores on the trip had a lot of questions about the process, the schedule and such, so it was nice to have the answers to help them feel comfortable,” she says.
The last two days of the trip were spent at the NRF Foundation Student Program designed to offer college students the unique opportunity to launch their future careers in retail and experience all that the industry offers. Retail executives in marketing, merchandising, talent, entrepreneurship, sustainability, supply chain, technology and more share their stories, insights, and what they learned in their careers, and students explore various careers paths in the retail industry, meet with dozens of recruiters from their favorite brands and create visions for their futures.
“I like the conference because you get to hear from older industry professionals, but also young professionals who just got out of college or just started their jobs and hearing the difference of what that's been like in the transition for them,” Abby says.
With graduation approaching in May, Abby is working with incoming USC NRF president Kaleb Hurley to ensure a smooth transition. She is also considering her own future career.
“I've always had a passion for sports and retail, so I would love to maybe work for an athleisure brand like Nike or something like that to combine my passions. But honestly, I'm kind of open. Retail is so niche, yet so many things. There's so many ways you could go,” she says, adding that the USC Department of Retailing has prepared her well and was a great choice.
“With every freshman or sophomore I talk to who is thinking about transferring to retail or HRSM, I cannot rave enough about the professors, the faculty here. They care so much. Even my freshman year, they were very involved in what I wanted to do and very open with their passions and that’s only expanded since I've been here. I genuinely love this college so much.”