Student employees Miriam Valencia, left, and Brittany Lee prepare a red umbrella that will be used as a prop for a window display at Tucson Mall's The A Store. The umbrella will be used in promoting Arizona Opera's "Madama Butterfly." Students work at the store to earn class credits and learn about retail sales.

greg bryan / arizona daily star

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Brittany Lee's career in high fashion is getting its start in a student-run college apparel shop.

"I'm working toward New York," said Lee, 20, a junior at the University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing.

Lee is among dozens of students working for college credits at The A Store, which sells UA-themed clothing and accessories inside Tucson Mall. The store is staffed by the UA's retailing majors and they run the store throughout the year.

Working toward a career as a visual-merchandise designer, Lee wants to create window displays, designing store layouts and creative store displays for clothing designers and upscale fashion houses.

She recently got her chance by working with Arizona Opera to install a 30-foot-wide window display at Tucson Mall for the "Madama Butterfly" production opening in February at the Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.

"I'm gaining a lot of experience here with design, but we're also learning a lot about buying and merchandising," she said. "These are skills we can put on a résumé and use for real jobs outside of the store."

With its focus on the retail industry, the UA's Center for Retailing is one of few in the country teaching the ins and outs of a retail career.

But these jobs aren't focused solely on sales positions —instead their emphasis is toward management and professional careers with companies around the world.

"Retail is no longer focused just on the sales floor. It's a driving force in national and international economies," said Soyeon Shim, director of the UA's John and Doris Norton School for Family and Consumer Sciences, which includes the retailing center. "We're turning out future retail leaders. The opportunities for the consumer market are huge around the world and the University of Arizona can be a resource for talented people."

Named after Terry J. Lundgren, a UA alumnus and president and CEO of Federated Department Stores, the UA's retailing center started with about 100 students in the early 1990s.

Today there are about 400 students in the program's undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs, Shim said.

To meet demand, the retailing program will move into the new $25 million McClelland Park complex at North Park Avenue and East Fourth Street, which is expected to open in November 2008.

Ground was broken this month for the 70,000-square-foot complex, which will house the UA's School of Family and Consumer Sciences inside a four-story building with classrooms, faculty offices, conference rooms and an auditorium.

With that growth comes an opportunity to attract retailers around the world, Shim said.

The center is planning for its annual Global Retailing Conference this spring, which attracts hundreds of industry executives, including past speakers Tommy Hilfiger, principal designer for Tommy Hilfiger Corp., and Tom Murry, president of Calvin Klein.

The 12th annual conference this April will feature Vera Wang, a New York fashion designer with a line of wedding gowns, fragrances, jewelry, eyeware and shoe and houseware collections.

"When we started the conferences years ago, people didn't know what global retailing was," Shim said. "Now, the U of A and Tucson are becoming true leaders in the global retailing industry."

Still there are some who are still surprised about choosing retailing as a career.

"When I first told my parents about the major, they weren't too happy," said Kari Westerham, 22, a senior in the program and manager of The A Store. "They wanted me to go into nursing. But after talking with them, they realize there are a lot of opportunities out there with a lot of great companies."

Westerham plans to go into marketing and event planning and has already drawn the interest of officials with J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

"It was a smart move to go into the program," she said.

Dozens of companies — including Seattle-based Nordstrom, Dallas-based Neiman Marcus and IBM — scout the UA for job candidates and interns and often bring in academic fellows and offer corporate sponsorships.

A slew of corporations also sit on the retailing program's advisory board and often shape academic programs and curriculum.

"The U of A is producing students today who are well grounded and are ready to accept responsibility in retail environments," said Neil Stacey, division vice president for Phoenix-based PetSmart, Inc., which has worked with the UA for five years. "What they're doing with their programs is teaching real-world solutions (to problems) retail companies are facing today."