Tag: buyer

FASH330 Exclusive Interview with Madison Toth, Assistant Buyer Intern, Kohl’s

About Madison Toth

My name is Madison Toth, and I am a senior Fashion Merchandising and Management student with minors in Business Administration and Functional Wearable Design, set to graduate in May 2026. I am from Bangor, PA, a small town north of Philadelphia. Growing up, it was always my dream to be a part of the fashion industry.  As President of Runway of Dreams Club, I am passionate about innovative dressing solutions for those with different dressing needs. In the Winter of 2026, I will be participating in the UD FASH Study Abroad Program in Paris. Throughout my time at UD, I also had the opportunity to attend the NRF Student Program in NYC, which ultimately helped me to land my summer internship with Kohl’s as an Assistant Buyer Intern at their headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In summer 2025, I worked directly on the Nine West team with a focus on bottoms and dresses. The internship consisted of tasks, projects, and meetings that involved detailed analysis of sales data, forecasting, pricing, and assortment & allocation plans. The internship gave me a first-hand look at what the entire buying process looks like from start to finish.

Question 1: As an Assistant Buyer Intern, what does a typical day or week look like for you? Which part of the internship do you find most exciting? Were there any aspects of the internship that surprised you after you started?

Madison: Within the work week as an assistant buyer intern, the days were filled with classes, tasks, projects, and various meetings. Days were full, and there was always something that I could work on that would leave a genuine impact on the company and the Nine West team. An exciting portion of the internship was the continuous exposure to leadership that all interns had. Having the chance to hear from the entire C-suite of leaders, including the Chief Merchandising Officer and interim CEO of the company, was extremely exciting. Along with that group of leaders, I was given multiple opportunities to communicate with and present in front of leaders within the women’s category, and even outside of the buying world. Interns were encouraged to meet with people outside of their respective roles, which I took advantage of, meeting with a technical designer and the Vice President of Sourcing. I was surprised at the sense of community that the company had overall. All employees were excited to speak with interns, and encouraged us to ask questions during meetings and include our thoughts and opinions on their work. Overall, it was an amazing experience to meet with so many professionals in the fashion industry, who all gave diverse perspectives on the profession and gave inspiring viewpoints.

Question 2: Can you highlight 1-2 specific projects or tasks you worked on during the internship? What skills did they require or help you develop?

Madison: My first project of the internship was a competitive shopping project. This was presented to a plethora of teams in the Women’s category, as well as one of the Divisional Merchandise Managers (DMMs) for the Women’s category.  My partner and I visited several competitors, both direct and aspirational, to explore what was currently available in the market. We compared our findings with what Nine West currently has on the floor at Kohl’s for the summer season. While this project changed the way I shopped, it also gave me the critical thinking skills to think beyond the product when I was shopping. I discussed placement and promotion of the product, along with pricing to compare and contrast all differences of the competitors with Nine West.

My next project was an analysis of “Best Sellers.” My first task was to pick a few items from the current assortment, then analyze the sales data for both best and worst sellers, and create an overall theme to convey to other teams and leadership within the Women’s category. This included examining total sell-through season to date, average weekly sell-through, demand sales, % change from last year, and various other metrics. Overall, these two projects were the most influential throughout my internship. They made me think beyond the product, and truly understand the depth and complexities of the buying position.

Question 3: Which topics or skills from FASH330 did you find most relevant or helpful in your internship? Based on your experience, do you have any advice for students currently taking the course?

Madison: Open to Buy (OTB) was a topic learned in FASH330 that I found useful. My team met with leadership to discuss OTB once I got to Kohl’s, and many metrics were used. The Excel sheet seemed as long as a mile, with so many numbers that it was difficult to decipher their actual meaning. In a meeting with my manager, she slowed things down for me, and I was able to connect what I had learned in FASH 330 to Kohl’s OTB process. Without prior knowledge of the topic, I would have been left feeling extremely confused at the process. Along with OTB, I encourage students to pay special attention to all formulas related to sales metrics, including markup, gross margin, markdowns, and the intricacies of “at cost” and “at retail”. Having the knowledge from FASH 330 around these concepts was very beneficial for me throughout the internship.

Question 4: Based on your internship experience, what critical trends or issues in the apparel retail industry do you think are especially important for us to pay attention to, especially in the merchandising area?

Madison: With the current tariff war between the United States and many of its global trading partners, it is a significant shift within the fashion industry. My team at Kohl’s was faced with the difficult decision of whether to raise retail prices, switch vendors, or both. To maintain a specific initial markup% (IMU%), the team was left with difficult decisions on how to combat tariffs. While also always being in many seasons at one time, tariffs added an extra challenge to an already complex role. I encourage students to look into what aspects of the buying role can shift with changes in global affairs.

Question 5: How did you land your internship opportunity, and what did the interview process look like?

Madison: My internship opportunity arose from a career fair at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Student Program in NYC — thanks to the strong industry connections our FASH department has developed. On the second day of the program, students were encouraged to visit recruiters from many different successful retailers. After speaking with a Senior Buyer from Kohl’s that day, I was set up for a formal interview a few weeks later. The questions in that interview were mainly focused on my character, interest in the buying role, and both academic and professional experience. I was then asked back for a second interview, and ultimately landed the job. I recommend attending the NRF Student Program to any students that have the opportunity, it was truly an amazing experience, which led me to a dream internship.

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FASH330 Exclusive Interview with Cecilia Goetz, Senior Allocation Analyst at TJX

About Cecilia Goetz

My name is Cecilia Goetz. I grew up outside of Boston and currently live in the city while working in Framingham, Massachusetts, at TJX. I graduated from the University of Delaware (UD) in 2024 with an honors degree in Fashion Merchandising and minors in Management Information Systems and Business Administration. In my time at UD, I was a member of UDress Magazine and took part in a Fashion study abroad program in Paris as well as a food & wine Hospitality program in Australia/New Zealand.

Question 1: As a senior allocation analyst, what are your primary roles? What does a typical day or week look like for you? Which part of the job do you find most exciting? Were there any aspects of the position that surprised you after you started?

Cecilia: As a Senior Allocation Analyst in the footwear department for TJ Maxx, it is my job to come up with a weekly shipping strategy for what is being sent to our stores across the country so each one can get a cohesive, exciting, and unique mix of products. Throughout the week, I use several systems to manage this strategy and what we call “production” to ensure the goods needed to hit our weekly dollar goal are being processed and shipped to our stores.

One of my favorite parts of my job is being able to work so closely with the product. As someone who loves fashion and is a TJ Maxx customer myself, I love getting to talk about shoes all day. There is also something so special about deciding on a product mix one week and being able to actually see those shoes in stores a few weeks later. The role also allows me to utilize what I learned in my fashion classes while exercising the analytical skills I gained from my MIS minor. I like to think it is the perfect mix of my college education. TJX is also a company that really focuses on talent development. As a result, another key part of my job is training new analysts on my team and ensuring they are adjusting to the job and showing growth in their role. This is another very rewarding aspect of my position!

Question 2: I know that before your current role, you also worked on the buying side of the company. How does the role of an allocation analyst differ from buying, and in what ways are the two roles connected?

Cecilia:As an analyst, I am on the planning side of the company. On the other end of things, there are buyers who work with vendors to purchase all the goods that I allocate to stores. At TJX, most people start off on the planning side of the company and work their way up to the buying side. I interned in sleepwear buying and was able to work closely with the merchants in the department and observe their key tasks, such as vendor calls, quarterly strategy meetings, creation of purchase orders, etc.

While two very different roles, buying and planning are extremely connected. In my current role, I work closely with the buyers each week to ensure that we are achieving their vision of what the floor looks like with the many styles of shoes they purchase. They also let us know of any changes that need to be made, like the retail of each product, the month it is living in, or a change in the category. We work together on strategy meetings for each quarter, as well as our monthly reviews of what products we have on order, meaning the goods that have been purchased from the vendors and are on their way to our distribution centers.

Question 3: Can you walk our students through the key steps involved in developing an allocation/merchandise plan? Any key indicators that are particularly important to your decision-making?

Cecilia:I use a number of factors to come up with my allocation plan, like our ship goal for the week, the shoes we have available, the performance of those shoes in the past, the current season, and market trends. We essentially have plans for each class of shoe (e.g., heels, flats, sandals, sneakers, etc.) with projections of sales, inventory, sales-to-stock ratio (which we call “turn”), and several other key data points. I use our systems to look through what we currently have coming through our distribution centers across the country and decide how much I want to ship each type of shoe to fulfill these plans, while also deciding what specific shoes I want to ship within each class.

Every Monday, I receive several reports with data regarding my department’s performance in the previous week. I can look at things at a high level, like how a whole department or class did, while also being able to look at more specific information, like the selling of a certain style or zone within the country. For me, the most important indicators of whether a product, class, or department is working are the sales-to-stock ratio and sales. The sales-to-stock ratio essentially tells us how quickly we are turning over inventory (hence the nickname “turn”) by representing how much is being sold relative to how much of the product we have on the sales floor. If a style is selling very large volumes while turning quickly, we call it a “best-selling” style and prioritize shipping more of it the following week.

Throughout the week, it is also my job to manage production to ensure we reach our dollar goal and consistently communicate with our warehouses as issues arise. Our 1,300 stores are also split into 6 different zones based on location, climate, and demographics. This allows me to incorporate some lower-level analysis into my weekly strategies, like focusing certain products on certain zones, or bypassing a zone completely for one type of shoe or even a specific style. I can use different systems to track how much we have shipped week to date (WTD) of each class and how much is going to each zone.

Question 4: TJX is known as an off-price retailer. What unique merchandising issues or considerations are especially important for the company?

Cecilia:As an off-price retailer, a few of our main considerations are value, exciting mixes, and recognizable brands. We aim to offer our customers great deals on high-quality goods. They know that when they come into a TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or Home Goods, they are going to find amazing prices on brands they recognize that most other retailers cannot offer. A very important aspect of our business model is offering our customers a “treasure-hunt” shopping experience. We aim to make every store different with a unique collection of products so that no two stores look alike. As a result, shoppers feel a sense of urgency and that they have to buy something because they don’t know when they’ll see it next. This is part of the importance of the allocation analyst role. We help to make sure goods are allocated in a way that creates variety and excitement.

Question 5: From your perspective, what are the most important industry trends that students interested in merchandising and planning should be watching closely?

Cecilia:Arguably, the biggest topic of conversation in the retail industry right now is the newly imposed tariffs. Because so many vendors rely on manufacturers overseas to produce their goods, they are finding themselves in an especially tough position as they are forced to reassess manufacturers and make crucial decisions regarding who will have to take on the added costs. An understanding of tariffs and their implications for retailers has never been so important!

Another key trend in the industry is social media. As members of Gen-Z, our understanding of and involvement with platforms like Instagram and TikTok are so useful and relevant. At TJX, the buyers love to hear from us about the key trends we see and often take this information into account when buying products. Oftentimes, we can introduce them to a trend they never would’ve known about, especially if they aren’t consistent users of popular apps for our generation. There have also been several viral trends and videos involving our stores on social media. Seeing these can give us a better understanding of the customer mindset and what they are and aren’t excited about in our stores.

Question 6: What does a typical fashion merchandising job interview look like? What kinds of questions are commonly asked? And could you share any advice to help our students prepare and stand out?

Cecilia:My interview process involved a few different stages. The first of which was a virtual recording in which I had to talk about myself and answer some questions related to simple retail math. The second phase was a group interview. We spent the first part of the interview working independently in a simulation of the role, where we got to decide what we would and wouldn’t ship based on data and information given to us about different products. The group then came together to discuss our decisions and come to a consensus after considering each other’s thoughts and opinions. The final round involved short interviews with members of the recruitment team. Here, I got the opportunity to talk one-on-one with different people from the company and share my reasoning for applying, qualifications, and interests.

My biggest piece of advice for standing out, specifically in group interviews, is to share your honest opinion, even if it differs from your peers. I remember in my group interview, when we all came back to discuss, several people in my group started agreeing on things that were completely different from what I wrote down during the independent time. I started to panic, but then I decided to speak to my original plan while offering in-depth reasoning for my decisions. Rather than being judged, it created an open dialogue in which many different ideas were thrown around. One of the main parts of my current job is what we call “working in the gray.” There is no one right answer because there is no way to predict exactly what is going to happen each week in stores. As long as you are able to back up your decisions and explain your thought process, you will never get in trouble for having a differing opinion. In fact, people in both buying and planning LOVE to hear a range of ideas and thoughts because it offers fresh perspectives and gives some insight into what the customers could be thinking.

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