Macy’s is bringing new meaning to back-to-school.

Macy’s merchants are literally getting back in the classroom through an executive education program custom-created in conjunction with the New School’s Parsons School of Design. It’s geared for Macy’s merchandising team to hone their design and merchandising skills, figure out ways to improve the customer experience and tackle pressing issues confronting the industry.

It’s not a degree program, and there’s no grading or testing involved. It’s a partnership between New School’s Corporate Partnerships Initiative and Macy’s to bolster the retailer’s efforts at training and educating its Macy’s merchandising team, both new hires and experienced executives. Macy’s merchants will participate in at least one course on a quarterly basis.

The program also bolsters the curriculum of “Macy’s Fashion Academy” which was launched last spring for e-learning and classroom learning.

In other talent-building efforts, Macy’s this year relocated its executive training program from Cincinnati, where the company is based, to New York. And six months ago, a computer-based learning program called Ignite, covering hundreds of topics for Macy’s merchants, was introduced.

“We are definitely doubling down to make sure all of our teams are well trained,” Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s Inc., told WWD.

The program will be taught by Parsons faculty, including trend forecaster Li Edelkoort; designer, musician and author Keanan Duffty; customer experience strategist Christopher Lacy; fashion marketing and campaign expert Laura Lanteri, and others.

To continue reading the full article by David Moin in WWD, please click here.