Retail Students in Cal Poly Pomona's Apparel Merchandising & Management (AMM) program gain experience from “ApparelScapes”, a mini-store which offers clothing and unique gift items. ApparelScapes is located inside the Farm Store on campus.

Fashion Retailing students are responsible for merchandising, displaying, inventory control, pricing, and store management of AM2 apparel, our clothing line developed by the Apparel Production students. We also feature gift merchandise. The students gain experience in wholesale buying, working with vendors, and attending trade shows. Designing, producing, and merchandising this line is a real-world, hands-on opportunity for our AMM students.

True to the university's learn-by-doing philosophy, students in the Apparel Product Development Simulation class are responsible for developing the AM2 clothing line from concept to distribution. They prepare for this project through a series of courses that expose them to concept design, computer illustration, pattern making, fashion themes and colors, purchasing, marketing, product development solutions and quality assurance. After designs are approved, garments are manufactured at a local clothing manufacturer that donates services to the AMM department. Different AM2 clothing is sold at the University Bronco Bookstore.

Proceeds from the clothing sales help to pay for fabric and other program costs, but future plans include using the money to create a student scholarship program.

Cal Poly Pomona’s rapidly growing AMM program educates and prepares students for various positions in the apparel field, including product development, apparel engineering, sales, purchasing, and store management.

Thank you and special acknowledgement to Panorama, March 2003 issue.