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Wendy
Fok
Intern in Action, March 2003
 By
interning at various divisions of Polo Ralph Lauren, Barnard
senior Wendy Fok has spent the past three semesters learning
about the interrelationships between architecture, marketing
and design. An architecture major from Vancouver, Fok began
an internship at Polo in the summer of 2002 in the Store Development
& Creative Division. Working with Design and Architecture
Director Francia Miles, Fok was included in discussions on
the redesign of factory stores in New York, Florida, California,
Connecticut and Texas. It was while talking about fitting
room redesigns and floor fixture inventories that Fok became
interested in how architecture could be used as a marketing
tool.
"It was exciting to find out how important layout and
store planning are to consumer purchases. It seems that the
designers, architects and interior designers greatly influence
the purchasing patterns of the consumer," Fok said.
As part of her internship, Wendy did a presentation on the
Polo Woodbury Commons, N.Y. factory store to 25 interns, their
supervisors and various department heads. She built a model
of the store and documented the changes to be made in its
layout, in addition to writing an essay relating her internship
to her professional goals. Competing against other undergraduates
and MBA students, Fok was selected as one of the top three
interns that semester for her work on the project and the
essay. Her department was so pleased with her work that they
still use the Woodbury Commons model for various presentations.
"My time on this project was invaluable; it made me realize
the important interaction between architecture and design
and store development in the fashion industry," Fok said.
At the end of the summer, Fok met with Sarah Gallagher, president
of Polo.com, to discuss other opportunities related to marketing
and design. She ended up working under Sharon Connor, Senior
Director of e-commerce at Polo.com, assisting in website development,
and discussion of marketing trends and computer products.
"There are so many opportunities to try new and different
things and learn new skills, all which help me to try to determine
where I see myself after graduation," said Fok.
Fok believes she has benefited greatly from working in different
divisions of the same company, and will continue with Polo
this summer. She will pursue several options -- store development,
public relations, marketing, and advertising departments.
After graduation, she hopes to work for a few years before
returning to school for master’s degrees in business,
architecture or both.
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