Four Texas State students, known as the Bobcat Believers, traveled to Kohl’s corporate office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to present their case study in the 2017 Kohl’s Invitational.
The team consisted of Traum-Anh Nguyen, marketing senior; Saige Ramirez, fashion merchandizing senior; Elijah Diaz, fashion merchandizing sophomore; and Maloree Malone, fashion merchandizing serior. The team prepared for months with the help of their advisor Kasia Romo, a fashion-merchandise professor.
Bobcat Believers was one of the 12 teams selected out of 220 across the nation to advance to Kohl’s corporate as a finalist from a preliminary round. The group advanced to Wisconsin, but didn’t make it to the final round. They represented Texas State University during a paid trip to Wisconsin along with many networking opportunities.
“We had prototypes, had pamphlets, great energy, and we did super well,” Nguyen said. “This opened up so many doors for us; we talked to so many people who were willing to help us get a career. It was great.”
In the preliminary round, the Bobcat Believers created a video with their innovative solution to the challenge of ‘How to get Kohl’s consumers back into brick and mortar shopping rather than shopping online.’
The Bobcat Believers found out they were among the 12 finalists in late February and only had a month to prepare.
“We worked on business plans, teaser videos, presentations and all the inner workings of the project through spring break,” Nguyen said.
The Bobcat Believers visited the nearest Kohl’s frequently in order to do research, observe and make videos. The team also worked vigorously and received feedback through web seminars from Kohl’s sponsors.
“We had to go to Kyle three times a week and the managers were nice enough to let us video there. We even talked to a lot of the workers there,” Nguyen said.