Research News

Designing a beautiful experience at The Cosmetic Market

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(iStock)

Bringing a winning personal touch to sales at The Cosmetic Market is one challenge laid out for students at the Vanderbilt Accelerator Summer Business Institute, a hands-on learning experience run by Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management.

Students enrolled in Accelerator will consult with executives with The Cosmetic Market, which operates four stores in Tennessee and is opening a new location in the $600 million Avalon mixed used community near Atlanta in the fall. Founded by Nashville entrepreneur Linda Roberts in 2004, The Cosmetic Market is seeking innovative ways to make the in-store experience memorable for customers and generate repeat business.

The challenge for Accelerator students is to bring customers into the new Avalon store, enhance their experience of the personalized service offered, and convert them into loyal, repeat customers.

Accelerator Summer Business Institute helps students hone essential skills in marketing, sales, finance, real estate, research and corporate strategy, while participating companies receive the brainpower, creativity and proposals from several teams of highly motivated students. Participants are college students or recent college graduates.

The Cosmetic Market final presentations are 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 18, in Averbuch Auditorium in Owen Graduate School of Management, 401 21st Ave. S. To attend it or other Accelerator presentations, contact Jim Patterson.

Other Accelerator 2014 projects include:

– Using Dollar General as a case study, student teams will perform a quantitative analysis and deliver an equity analyst report, providing qualitative and quantitative justification for their 12-month target stock price.

– Students will consult with the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) about getting more millennials to attend NASCAR races. ISC runs 13 speedways, including Daytona and Talladega, and has nearly 900,000 grandstand seats and 500 suites to fill during races.