THE WORKSHOP AT MACY’S RETURNS WITH ENHANCED PROGRAMMING

The Workshop at Macy’s, the retail industry’s longest-running retail development program for underrepresented brands, provides up-and-coming businesses with the tools, knowledge, and access to resources to drive their enterprises to the next level, achieve business objectives and sustain growth. Designed by a consortium of experts from Macy’s and Babson College, the nation’s leading business school for entrepreneurship, the business development curriculum is created for diverse and women-owned retail businesses poised to succeed on a larger level. Since 2011, The Workshop at Macy’s has helped support and grow more than 175 small businesses.

“This year, The Workshop at Macy’s returns with several enhancements to continue evolving the program as a business accelerator for the participants,” said Michelle Wang, Macy’s vice president of retail diversity strategy. “The enhancements, including business grants, will help accelerate the participants’ success, and better support growth opportunities for these underrepresented businesses.”

Enhancements to The Workshop at Macy’s

This year the program sees 25 new entrepreneurs joining a five-week program, taking place virtually and in-person in New York City, from April 25th to May 27th. New classes will include Strategic Sourcing and Pitching for Funding, as well as improvements to the Supply Chain and Financial Management curriculum. From May 2nd to the 28th, The Workshop at Macy’s Digital Pop-up Shop will launch on macys.com, providing participants with the unique opportunity to sell their products on macys.com, further fueling business growth. In addition, the participants and their brands will be featured on macys.com live shopping episodes on May 12th and May 19th.

The Workshop at Macy’s will also introduce a Vendor Pitch Competition for participants to present their product, business opportunity, and funding proposal. The competition winner will receive a $100,000 business grant; a partnership with Macy’s sourcing team; buy now, pay later services from Klarna, and marketing support from Spark Foundry, among other prizes. Additionally, upon completion of the five-week program, every participant will receive a $5,000 business grant.

The Workshop at Macy’s Brands

The 2022 class features 25 brands across a variety of retail categories including beauty, home, accessories, womenswear, menswear, and more. Brands featured in this year’s class include:

Abingdon Co. (Nevada) Absolute Joi (Washington, D.C.) Anya Lust (New York) Ben Oni (New York) Black Paper Party (Pennsylvania) Carolina York (South Carolina) Curl Daddy (New Jersey) Dia Moda (Georgia) Emilia George (New York) Forgotten Skincare (Pennsylvania) Kyvan (Georgia) Lux Pillow Plus (Nevada)

Maika (California) Megan Renee (California) Moringa Connect (Massachusetts) My Mommy Wisdom (Florida) NefrFreshr (Texas) Play Out Apparel (New York) Plenitude (Maryland) Sabila Skincare (California) Stivali New York (New York) Swanky Designs (New Jersey) Terese Sydonna (New York) Unisa Eurani (New York) Uwila Warrior (Massachusetts)

In the 11 years since its inception, several alumni of The Workshop have successfully launched product lines in select Macy’s stores and on macys.com. Most recently, alumni Matthew Harris collaborated with Macy’s exclusive brand to launch MATEO for I.N.C International Concepts. His collection is part of Macy’s Icons of Style, a collaboration with Black visionaries to help move the fashion world forward.

The Workshop at Macy’s is an exclusive retail-vendor accelerator program designed to give select high potential diverse, LGBTQ, veteran, and women-owned businesses the tools to better succeed and sustain growth in the retail industry. Conducted annually, this free program is a foundational element of Macy’s commitment to supplier diversity. With more than 175 graduated vendors including Alex Woo, Urban Hydration, Verona Collection, Twelve NYC, Mateo New York, Fe Noel, Foot Nanny and Eleven60, The Workshop at Macy’s continues to create a viable pipeline of enterprises that will grow to become successful partners with Macy’s, Inc., and other retailers.

For more information, visit TheWorkshopatMacys.com.