Thursday
To Be Announced
Tours & Talks
Various Locations Around New York City
Go behind the scenes at retail's headquarters and flagship stores! Meet with retail leaders and recruiters to learn about career paths with retail’s biggest brands.
Tours & Talks are available to students registered for NRF NXT. Spaces are limited, and a separate application for each tour and confirmed acceptance from each retailer is required.
Friday
All times are in the Eastern timezone ● Doors open at 8:45 a.m.
Lunch and snacks provided for students and educators
Friday Main Stage
9:15 - 10:10 a.m.
Welcome to NRF NXT & Session One
Details coming soon!
Adam Lukoskie
Senior Vice President
National Retail Federation
Executive Director
NRF Foundation
)
10:10 - 10:55 a.m.
More Than You Imagined: Your Future in Retail
Retail offers more career possibilities than you might think. Hear from industry leaders at four distinct retail companies about their diverse business models, different career paths available, what it takes to stand out, and how to find your fit and turn your interests into a career full of possibilities.
Laura Felice
BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.
Executive Vice President
Chief Financial Officer
Justin Smith
Burlington Stores
Senior Vice President of Talent Acquisition
Adrienne Brown
Wayfair
Head of Curated Merchandising
)
Ray Malouf
Lowe's
Vice President, Talent
)
10:55 - 11:15 a.m.
Break
11:15 - 12:05 p.m.
Session Three
Details coming soon!
Brenna McKeown
Foot Locker
Senior Integrated Marketing Manager
Mollina Wakim
Burberry
Planner
12:05 - 1:05 p.m.
Lunch
1:05 - 2:10 p.m.
Turning Trends into Solutions
Trends are everywhere — but real impact comes from knowing which signals matter and how to act on them. Throughout Kym’s career, she has focused on identifying meaningful trends and translating them into customer driven solutions that are clear, relevant, and usable.
Kym Mass
Land's End
President, Lands' End Consumer
Chief Creative Officer
Kym Mass
Land's End
President, Lands' End Consumer
Chief Creative Officer
2:10 - 2:30 p.m.
Break
2:30 - 3:15 p.m.
Aerie REAL: The Power of Authentic Brand Building
Aerie revolutionized the intimate apparel industry and ignited a movement more than a decade ago when it chose to keep it REAL by committing to no retouching models and recently no AI generated people or bodies.
In this candid conversation, brand execs break down how authentic storytelling fueled the growth of Aerie and the successful launch of OFFLINE by Aerie. Get an unscripted look at how creative ideas take shape, how authentic communities are built and what it takes to stay grounded in your beliefs in fast-moving retail.
The team will share industry advice, their own career-defining moments and the pivotal steps that shaped their paths to leadership.
Torrey Acri
Aerie
VP Integrated Creative Marketing
Kelly Caputo
Aerie
VP Brand & Experience Marketing
Luke Klein
Aerie
VP Integrated Growth & Marketing Strategy
Stacey McCormick
Aerie
Chief Marketing Officer, Aerie Brands
3:15 - 4:00 p.m.
Retail Gets Real
Retail Gets Real — live! A Conversation with Old Navy SVP and Head of Stores & Operations Steve Peters.
NRF's podcast, Retail Gets Real, features insightful conversations with the industry’s most interesting people. Subscribe to hear retail executives, industry experts, entrepreneurs and influencers discuss trends, their career stories and the future of retail.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Steve Peters
Old Navy
Senior Vice President and Head of Stores
Bill Thorne
National Retail Federation
SVP, Communications and Public Affairs
)
4:00 - 4:20 p.m.
Break
4:20 - 5:05 p.m.
Session Seven
Details coming soon!
Mecca Mitchell
Senior Vice President & Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Burlington Stores
The Future of Retail Tech & Supply Chain
Explore how technology and supply chain innovation are shaping the future of retail. This breakout session is available to Ray Greenly Scholarship recipients, with additional spots opening to registered conference attendees.
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1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Breakout Programming
Breakout details coming soon
2:30 - 3:20 p.m.
Networking
3:20 - 4:00 p.m.
Final Session and Closing
Mecca Mitchell
Senior Vice President & Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Burlington Stores
Saturday
All times are in the Eastern timezone ● Doors open at 7:00 a.m.
Breakfast & lunch provide for students and educators
Saturday Main Stage
7:00 - 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast
8:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Educator Meeting
Our NRF Foundation Educator Meeting features exclusive sessions designed for university educators attending NRF NXT, including a networking breakfast with retail recruiters.
8:00 - 8:30 a.m.
Your Career, Your Courage, Your Circle
Laura Ravo
Ravo Consulting
Founder
Master Coach
Aimee Bayer-Thomas
Ulta Beauty
Chief Retail Officer
)
8:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Over 100 retail industry leaders join students at their tables for in-depth discussions on career navigation, industry insights and networking at the NRF Foundation Executive Mentor Experience.
Mecca Mitchell
Senior Vice President & Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Burlington Stores
11:00 - 12:00 p.m.
Lunch
11:30 - 3:00 p.m.
NRF Foundation Career Fair
Meet with over 30 retail companies hiring for internships & full-time opportunities at the NRF Foundation Career Fair. Check out the job listings to prepare. More listings added weekly.
Juniors, seniors & graduate students: 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
All attendees: 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
General Expectations: What's Next in Shopping, Work, and the Future of Retail
Freshmen & sophomores required, open to all other registered attendees.
What do the five different generations really want as shoppers and as employees? This panel dives into the connection between the customer experience and the employee experience, backed by PwC's latest Global Hopes and Fears data on what young workers expect, where skills gaps exist, and how students can get workforce-ready.
Panelists will discuss where retailers are nailing it (and where they're not), and how future retail leaders can get ahead of these shifts to shape the shopping and workplace experiences of tomorrow.
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Sunday
All times are in the Eastern timezone
8:00 - 12:00 p.m.
NRF Foundation Get Hired in Retail
At NRF Foundation Get Hired, retail companies host on-site interviews with students they met at the Career Fair. Invitation only.
8:00 - 5:00 p.m.
NRF'27 Retail's Big Show
Retail’s Big Show is the retail industry’s biggest event, bringing more than 41,000 retail industry professionals to New York City’s Javits Convention Center every year to explore the new technology and trends moving the industry forward.
Students and educators can add complimentary access to NRF 2027: Retail’s Big Show to their NRF NXT registration. This is a separate event from NRF NXT, with separate badges required for entry to the Javits Convention Center.