Hello Marketing Faculty
Think about incorporating the Sorrelli Challenge, Collegiate Challenge Competition sponsored by The Center for Retailing Solutions (CRS) into your Spring courses.
This year Sorrelli (jewelry, www.sorrelli.com) is sponsoring the competition. The Sorrelli Collegiate Challenge is designed to solve a problem for Sorrelli that entails developing a plan that will help expand their retail business. This is a great class assignment for marketing, retailing, entrepreneurship or small business management courses.
The competition spans Fall 2013 and Spring 2014. Teams are eligible to submit their entries in the Fall (2013) or Spring (2014). Deadline for the paper submission is March 14, 2014.
The competition will take place Thursday, April 3, 2014 at Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA. Each school or branch may submit up to 3 teams. Last year some of the colleges ran a local competition and then sent their top teams to the final competition. The competition will be judged on the written plan, and the presentation of the paper.
A few professors reported obstacles with students visiting the physical store. Based on this feedback, the rules were changed as follows:
As part of the competition, it is expected that each team will visit the Sorrelli Flagship Store, either formally or informally.
Addendum October 2, 2013. If the entire team can’t come to the store, one person from the team can represent the team. If travelling is an obstacle for the students, a Sorrelli representative can visit the class. Contact Rebecca Niebel to request a class visit.
There is also an update that Sorrelli wanted to share for any teams:
Update: Sorrelli is scheduled to open another store:
Sorrelli Store #2, Montclair, NJ, Tentative Grand Opening - mid-November 2013
The storefront is on a Church Street in Montclair with other retail stores including both mom-and-pop boutiques and national brands such as Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and LuluLemon in the neighborhood. This area of Montclair is known for its high amount of foot traffic and many wonderful restaurants.
These changes are reflected in the updated case/rules (attached).
The top team will get $1,000 and a ‘traveling’ trophy that will be housed at the winner’s school. The second-place team will be awarded $500.
Click here to download the rules for the competition. If you have any questions, please contact Denise T. Ogden , Ph.D., from the Center for Retailing Solutions and Penn State (dto2@psu.edu).
