4/10/02

ALUM DAWN ROBERTSON TO GIVE AU'S FASHION LECTURE APRIL 18

AUBURN -- Dawn Robertson, president of one of the fashion industry's largest direct-to-consumer businesses will give the 16th annual Grisham-Trentham Lecture in Auburn University's College of Human Sciences on April 18.

Robertson, president and chief merchandising officer of Federated Direct, will speak at 11 a.m. in AU's Hotel & Dixon Conference Center auditorium.

Her topic will be "Evolving in the New Multi-Channel Retail Environment of Today and Tomorrow."

Roberston's presentation will focus on the skills and organizational models needed to engage in multi-channel retailing (catalog, e-commerce, stores, etc.) and issues related to making e-commerce profitable.

The 1977 graduate of Auburn will also visit students and faculty in the College of Human Sciences.

"This is a particularly special event for us, because Dawn is an alum of our fashion merchandising program," said Michael Solomon, Human Sciences Professor of Consumer Behavior at AU and coordinator of the Grisham-Trentham Lecture. "The Internet has fundamentally changed the way retailers do business and the way shoppers interact with stores, and Dawn is at the forefront of this evolution," Solomon said.

Federated Direct is the umbrella for several direct-to-customer businesses, including Bloomingdale's by Mail, and bloomingdales.com., Macys.com, the Macy's By Mail national catalog, and catalogs and e-commerce sites operated by Federated Direct's Fingerhut subsidiary. In all, these new-wave retail vehicles serve a sophisticated database of more than 30 million customers.

Federated Direct is a division of Federated Department Stores, Inc. Working with the department store divisions, Federated Direct leverages the company's multi-channel retail strategy through an integrated bricks-and-clicks delivery of merchandise that extends the company's top national brands.

Headquartered in New York City, with some operations based in San Francisco, Federated Direct mirrors the traditional department store in its planning and buying functions, as well as in the support operations of finance, human resources, creative and marketing. But its added layers of technology and e-commerce make it a distinctly.

Robertson joined Federated Direct in July 2000 after two years as executive vice president for men's/children's/home at Federated Merchandising Group in New York. She began her retail career as a buyer and executive trainee in 1975 at Davison's, then a division of R.H. Macy & Co. Later. She was a senior merchant in The May Department Stores Company organization before joining Saks, Inc. in 1997 as president and CEO of its McCrae's division.

A native of Birmingham, Robertson lives in Connecticut with her husband and two daughters. She earned her B.S. in fashion merchandising at Auburn, graduating in 1977.

Robertson credits her professors in Human Sciences as "showing her the possibilities" of what her career could achieve and providing her with the education and confidence to achieve her goals.

The Grisham-Trentham Lectureship was established by Gary Trentham to expose students to internationally respected fashion experts. The lectureship is named for Trentham, who taught at AU for 23 years, and funded by the late Charles Grisham and Betty Grisham of Huntsville. Mr. Grisham was a member of the AU class of 1939, and Mrs. Grisham continues to support AU.

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CONTACT: Solomon, 334/844-1316.

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(MEDIA NOTE): Roberston will participate in a reception on April 17 and a luncheon following the lecture at Pebble Hill. For more information, contact Solomon.