The leading lights of the retail industry gathered at an elegant Manhattan venue on October 15th to honor Terry Lundgren, former chairman and CEO of Macy’s and one of the original advisory board members of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center. A noted industry leader and philanthropist, Lundgren received the Retail Excellence Award, presented by Wharton’s Baker Retailing Center in collaboration with the Retail Leaders Circle (RLC) Global Forum. His commitment to advancing retail education also includes founding a retailing center at the University of Arizona.
The exclusive awards ceremony and dinner was kicked off by the Baker Retailing Center’s managing director Mina Fader, who introduced Thomas Robertson for welcoming remarks. A former dean of the Wharton School and a longtime professor of marketing, Robertson also serves as the academic director of the Baker Center. Describing Terry Lundgren “an absolute natural for the award,” Robertson in turn introduced Panos Linardos, chair of the RLC Global Forum.
Over the years the partnership between the RLC and the Baker Retailing Center in bestowing the Retail Excellence Award “has become a true tradition in our industry,” Linardos said. “And tonight, we are honored to celebrate Terry Lundgren, whose leadership has left a lasting mark in retail. He has guided companies, inspired teams, and set the standard, leading with conviction, conviction, and generosity. His example reminds us that lasting success comes from vision, consistency, and integrity as well.”
Linardos invited Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, to share his thoughts on Lundgren’s remarkable journey.
Shay called Lundgren “someone I’ve learned from, worked for, collaborated with” and touched on the long friendship between the two men and their families. “I know there were many, many people that Terry could have invited to be here tonight to introduce him—and I know that they weren’t available,” he added to laughter. “And so I’m delighted to be the lucky guy.”
“Before Anyone Else Was Doing It, Terry Was Thinking About It”
Shay traced Lundgren’s rise in the retail industry, from Bullocks on the West Coast, to positions at Neiman Marcus, then for many years at Federated Department Stores and the May Company, “and the collaboration and merger that became Macy’s and many groundbreaking things along the way that I think are now very commonplace,” he said. These include the in-circle retail rewards that Lundgren pioneered at Neiman Marcus and programs like My Macy’s. Such programs provided a sense of “more localization when you’re running an 800-unit store that comprises the entire country… that personalization aspect is something that today, again, is taken for granted,” he said.
Shay also referenced Lundgren’s “early investments in omnichannel and e-commerce.” He recalled a visit to the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at the University of Arizona more than a decade ago. “Terry was talking about using the stores and the footprint of the stores as a way to forward deploy inventory, to put it closer to consumers—frankly, long before the technology existed. Before anyone else was doing it, Terry was thinking about it,” he said.
Such examples demonstrate Lundgren’s leadership qualities, “his ability to continue to innovate, to reimagine things, I think, to act with a high degree of curiosity throughout his career and in his own life,” Shay said.
A measure of his commitment and leadership, Shay added, came when he was “walking through the Javits Center with 6,000 people in a ballroom after Terry’s come off the stage [while he was chairman of the NRF], and 6,000 people that want to talk to Terry as they see him walk down that extraordinarily long ballroom aisle. And Terry was standing there patiently, willingly talking to anyone that waited in line to say hello.” Not only standing patiently, Shay said, but “actually having a real conversation, listening, asking them a question, offering to help.”
During his record-setting three stints as chairman of the NRF, Lundgren was “always there if you needed him,” Shay said. He quoted CNBC anchor Becky Quick, “who’s interviewed and talked to Terry many, many times. Becky said, ‘One of the things I most respected about Terry was, good news or bad, Terry would always come on air and talk to us.’”
The Characteristics of Great Leaders
In accepting his award, Lundgren noted that he is sometimes asked to identify the characteristics of great leaders. “I don’t know personally about great leadership,” he said, “but what I do know is that the most critical thing that a leader must do is to recognize that he or she does not have all the answers,” and then set out to surround him or herself with people who do. “I’ve been extremely fortunate all of my career to have been surrounded by those people—several of whom are in this room tonight and deserve credit for any success that I’ve had.”
Lundgren said he “grew up” at Bullocks in Los Angeles, rising to president of Bullocks Wilshire before becoming “the first CEO not named Neiman or Marcus” of Neiman Marcus at a young age. He credited the support of Stanley Marcus in helping him gain acceptance in that role. “Without his endorsement of me, none of what we were able to accomplish would ever have happened,” he said. Never afraid to reach out those he “admired and respected to help guide me,” Lundgren today encourages people “to do the exact same thing.”
The team at what would ultimately become Macy’s Inc. was extraordinary. “I see guys in this room and gals in this room that I worked with—it was the Yankees,” he said. “It was such an outstanding organization of people at every position.” Though there were inevitable bumps in the road, “we overcame them over and over again because of that talented team of people that I was fortunate to work with for all those years.”
Of Shay, he said that hiring him as chairman of the NRF was “one of the best things I ever did.” Turning to Shay, he said, “The voice that the National Retail Federation has given to the retail industry did not exist before you took over that job. And we’re all very proud to have you leading us along those lines.”
Competition or Collaboration?
Lundgren fondly recalled his first reaction, many years back, on being asked by Jay Baker to join the Baker Center’s advisory board: “I’m a pretty competitive guy, and you represent the enemy.” Twice over, in fact. “Not only do you represent Kohls but you’ve got this retail school, and I’ve got one too, at the University of Arizona. We’re fighting for students here, you know?”
In response, Baker looked at him “in a very calm way” and said: “‘Terry, we’re not competing. We’re collaborating to expose the best and brightest students to this amazing career that’s available to us in the retail industry, just like you and I have had.’” That was the beginning of a “really powerful relationship,” Lundgren continued. “I always respected Jay from the outside, but to work with him side by side was fantastic. And to see what you’ve been able to do at the Baker Center is really impressive.”
In closing, Lundgren made a strong case for introducing students—whether at Wharton’s Baker Retailing Center or Arizona’s Lundgren Center—to the retail industry in its broadest sense, including all the roles and jobs that keep it thriving. “It’s a huge industry… an extraordinary opportunity for individuals and careers,” he said, expressing heartfelt thanks to “all of you who support our businesses and our retail,” many of whom were in attendance.
“Without that network,” he added modestly, “none of us would have experienced any of the success we’ve been able to have.”