Macy’s supplier diversity program seeks applications for 2024 class

Dive Brief:

Macy’s said Thursday that it’s currently accepting applications for the 2024 class of The Workshop at Macy’s, the company’s vendor diversity accelerator program. The four-week course, centered on education and mentoring by Macy’s executives and industry partners, is intended to position underrepresented retail businesses for growth.
The Workshop at Macy’s is open to U.S.-based businesses that are majority owned by a woman, veteran, person with a disability, anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+, or someone of Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Asian-Indian or Asian-Pacific origin.
Applications are open now through Nov. 30. Finalists will be announced in February, and the program is slated to begin in May. The workshop culminates with participants receiving a pop-up shop on Macy’s.com.

Dive Insight:

The Workshop at Macy’s was founded in 2011. Since then, the program has supported more than 220 graduate brands, provided more than 500 hours of educational training and supplied more than $500,000 in business grants.

The upcoming program is a hybrid offering. It will take place virtually and in person at Macy’s Herald Square store in New York City, Michelle Wang, Macy’s vice president of retail diversity strategy, told Retail Dive in an email Friday.

“For more than a decade, The Workshop at Macy’s has represented our ongoing commitment to amplify and uplift underrepresented businesses by providing entrepreneurs with a best-in-class development program,” Wang said. “Through our social purpose platform, Mission Every One, and programming like The Workshop at Macy’s, we are dedicated to reinventing and reimagining representation in retail by providing participants with the tools and resources to grow.”

Wang said graduates appreciate that the breadth of course offerings moves beyond the basics. The education and training explore topics focused on business growth, like how to build brand identity, financial management, perfecting a pitch and accessing growth capital.

After graduating, participants have an opportunity to onboard as vendors and introduce their products to Macy’s customers through the company’s digital marketplace, Wang said. More than 45 brands that went through the workshop are currently sold on Macys.com.

Wang also said participating brands are introduced to the company’s Shared Purpose, Unlimited Reach — or S.P.U.R. Pathways program. It’s the company’s multi-year, multifaceted funding initiative. Its goals include advancing entrepreneurial growth, closing wealth gaps and breaking down barriers that underrepresented business owners face.