Sydney Hope
- Jan 12, 2020
- 7 min read

New York City - Round 3: NRF Student Program 2020

It’s that time of year again! This is the third year in a row I attended the National Retail Federation Student Program in New York City with the club NRF at USC. I am lucky enough to have been President since the end of my Freshman year, and now we had over 20 USC students attend this trip.

New York City is one of my favorite places to visit, so I always like to share my experiences throughout these couple days whether it be fun new shops, good eats or lessons that I learned during the conference.

I wanted to break my trip up day by day to give you the ins and outs of my time in the city of dreams. Every time I leave NYC, and especially the NRF Student Program, I feel a new sense of motivation, drive and enthusiasm towards my career in the retail industry. I cannot wait to start working in the real world and make my mark in bettering the future of retail. Enjoy!

Thursday, January 9th:

Today was the day we arrive in NYC! I traveled with one of my best friends, Lauren, for the second year in a row. We flew from CLT to LGA landing at about 12pm. From there, we went straight to the hotel, checked in, and on we went!

We ate lunch at one of my favorite spots, Dig Inn, and then we had a change in plans. We did not get into one of the retailing tours we planned on attending, so we shopped at Urban Outfitters, ZARA, Steve Madden and American Eagle. I ended up getting really good deals at ZARA; there are tons of sales going on due to the season starting to change.

After shopping for a couple of hours, we hit an unexpected detour and decided to stop at Taco Dumbo, an organic Mexican restaurant that served amazing Margaritas. We enjoyed a drink and then decided to go back to the hotel and change before going to dinner.

Dinner was AMAZING. We went to Little Italy and ate at the best restaurant that served homemade Sangria – which again, was delicious. From there, we met up with one of my best friends from high school, Alec, who attends the Fashion Institute of Technology here in NYC. We hung out at his house, ate some amazing dessert, and then went to an art museum.

Day one that’s a wrap!

Outfit Details:

Top - Pacsun

Bottoms - LuluLemon

Shoes - Doc Martins

Jacket - Anna Craig

Suitcase - Amazon

Glasses - Pura Vida

Dig Inn

Urban Outfitters

Steve Madden

Taco Dumbo

Little Italy

Outfit Details:

Top - Target

Bottoms - ZARA

Shoes - Adidas

"Pie" Bakery

Friday, January 10th:

On Friday, we started bright and early. Today was the first day of the NRF Student Program. It moved to a different location, the Marriot in Times Square, so I was expecting something completely new. It was a much nicer spot to have the conference, because there was more room & it was close to so many restaurants & coffee places if we needed a pick-me-up throughout the day.

Day one was amazing! We listened to so many amazing speakers, went into different breakout sessions and learned numerous things about the ever-so changing retail industry. Some of the speakers we heard from day one was Emily Change, the Chief Marketing Officer at Starbucks; Alison Hahn, the Senior VP of Merchandising at Sephora; and the CEO of Macy’s.

After the conference was over for the day, we changed at the hotel and met Alec again for dinner. We went to NOMO located in Soho and had amazing drinks and food. We walked around the area after dinner and went to a local bakery.

Outfit Details:

Blazer Dress - Nasty Gal

Outfit Details:

Top - Nordstrom

Bottoms - Zara

Shoes - Doc Martins

NOMO in SOHO

Bag - Marc Jacobs

Local Bakery in Soho

Saturday, January 11th:

Today was the second and last day of the convention. It started even earlier than the day before and got done earlier in the afternoon. The first part of the morning we listened to guest speakers, then we had breakout sessions mimicking the idea of “speed dating”. We talked to six different workers in the retail industry and got to sit down with them for fifteen minutes each. We were able to ask them questions in our small table groups and listen to key advice they were willing to share with us. Some companies I spoke with were from Macy’s, Burlington, American Express and Bombas.

After the speed dating event, Juniors & Seniors went to the career fair and was able to network with different companies, give them their resumes and set up potential interviews for the following day. I was in relief this time at the convention, because I have received a full-time internship offer with Belk Corporate prior to this event. They offered me a position completing their Merchandising Internship program. I accepted and will be spending the summer in Charlotte, NC.

It was great, because at the career fair I was able to see the people who I have been networking with for years and talk to some of the employees at Belk.

Once the convention was over, I was even more inspired to start my new journey this summer with Belk. The retail industry is not dying; they are simply expanding and evolving. Whether it be more stores opening up implementing virtual reality, stores trying to create an experience for their customers to remember or companies expanding their stores internationally … retailers are all over and that will not be changing anytime soon.

We spent the second half of the day in SOHO. This is definitely one of my favorite areas in NYC! The first stop we went to was a brunch place called Jack’s Wife Frieda. The line was out the door, but the food was AMAZING (definitely worth the wait). This restaurant is well known and has a couple different locations throughout New York.

After lunch, we shopped around at tons of stores! My favorite stores in SOHO are: Zara, Brandy Melville, Outdoor Voices, Glossier, Aritzia, The Vintage Twin, Sephora, Adika pop-up shop, and the Artists Fleaswhich is different local vendors selling their work. I ended up getting something from Outdoor Voices, a local vendor and some coffee from a local coffee shop – Maman.

For dinner (okay this may have been the coolest part of the trip), we went to La Esquiña. The unique part about this restaurant is during the day (and from the outside) it looks like a gas station small tiny Mexican restaurant. However, behind the doors if you have a reservation starting at 6, they radio-phone you down to the downstairs underground building to eat dinner. The underground spot is a huge trendy bar and Mexican style restaurant that has amazing drinks and appetizers. I got a Moscow mule, Mexican street corn and cauliflower tacos. I would highly recommend, just make sure you make a reservation ahead of time. It was a very exclusive experience that mimicked the “speak easy” restaurants back in the day when alcohol was prohibited.

After dinner we walked around the area more and then went to our reservations at the Museum of Ice Cream. We bought these tickets months in advance, because this is a new tourist attraction that has been extremely popular. It was so much fun! Each room was a different experience filled with sweet treats, slides, a playground, and a pool of sprinkles. A great place to fix your sweet-tooth and to get some pretty pictures!

Joe & The Juice

Jack's Wife Freida

Maman Coffee Shop

Outfit Details:

Top - Forever 21

Bottoms - ZARA

Shoes - Doc Martins

Jacket - Fab'rik Boutique

Glasses - Pura Vida

La Esquiña

Sunday, January 12th:

Ah, already our last day! Our flight to CLT departed at 6:59pm, so we had the whole afternoon to explore more. I started off my morning with one of my favorite workout spots in the city – SoulCycle. I went to the location in Bryant Park (I highly recommend). Soul Cycle is a great workout not only physically, but mentally as well. My instructor Nicky, was so inspiring, motivating and helped me get into the mindset of starting a new week and a whole new school semester!

After my workout class, I walked across the street to an amazing Whole Foods where I sat and enjoyed a relaxing post-workout breakfast and listened to one of my favorite podcasts – “Gals on the Go”.

From there, I went back to the hotel, checked-out and then went to the Chelsea area. I also ate lunch at my FAVORITE healthy build-your-own bowl place – Dig Inn. We then went to a trendy coffee-shop called Blue Bottle (I got an iced-coffee with almond milk), and then we walked around Chelsea Market. This is such a cute place to pass some time. It is filled with tons of amazing food, local vendors and unique stores!

Once we walked through the market, we stumbled across a Starbucks Reserve. I was so excited, because I had never been! This is an exclusive Starbucks where they sell the reserves of limited coffee beans from all around the world. Their menu is limited, and they have special items that you cannot purchase at a regular Starbucks.

As I sit in the airport and reflect on my experience here in New York, I realized how far I have come over the past three years. I remember coming to this convention my Freshman year not knowing what I wanted to do with my degree or how I was going to fit into the retail industry. Through multiple experiences I have had in college thus far, I now see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that everything happens for a reason. I am meant to be where I am, and now I can say I have my first large corporate retail opportunity this summer. I hope to grow even more as I evolve into a young working woman and learn more about what path I will go down after graduation.