Sponsored by Macys

Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

Prepared by:
Allee Sawyer, Arelis Lpez, Jason Cody, Jamen Parten, Dina Konarshayeva

Report Date:

May 07, 2014

1 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Figures
Introduction
Background
Poverty Rate
Children in Poverty
Our History
Solution
Environmental stability
Proposal
Values
Community
Involvement
Inspiration
Plan
Team Involvement
Benefits
Scheduling
Staffing
Budget
Authorization Request
Works Cited

Table of Figures
Figure 1: Poverty rates among Texans
Figure 2: Collection Time Table
Figure 3: Event Timeline
Figure 4: Staffing
Figure 5: Compensation
Figure 6: Funding
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Figure 7: Budget

Introduction
What could you do to help the little boy across the street that lives in a rundown house?
The boy, whose parents are struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford an extra pair of
socks for him and his little sister every year?
Even though the economy has been getting back to normal in the past few years, nearly 30% of
children in Dallas County are growing up in poverty (Jacobson).

(City-Data.com)
Jobs are created and are available to those who qualify; yet, 30.5% of residents in Dallas had an
income below the poverty level in 2009. Some of those residents that are qualified to join the
workforce are unable to do so due to the strict process of interviewing, inability to make
arrangements, or embarrassment of the little choice of business attire they could wear to an
interview.
Macys efforts to reduce pollution and impact the environment have taken the company further
than anybody could have imagined. Packing material, reusable totes, energy-saving LED lights,
and solar installations have led to an enormous positive environmental impact. Our company can
impact the local community and leave a bigger mark in history, while reducing the external
impact on the environment.
If Macys stores around the North Dallas area were able to donate a part of clearance items to a
non-profit organization, such as the Wilkinson Center, the quality of living in poor households

3 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

would increase. Whether the stores donate clothes or small home appliances and goods,
Wilkinson Center will make sure the donated items will go into the hands of those most in need.

Background
Poverty Rate
Nearly 23% of Texas residents are living below the poverty line. Over 30% of the
residents of Dallas County are living below the poverty level. According to a recent dallasnews
article, Dallas residents are more likely to be impoverished than in any of Americas 20 biggest
cities, except in Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia (Lindenberger).
Figure 1: Poverty rates among Texans

(City-Data.com)
Due to budget constraints heads of families are forced to choose between paying for rent,
electricity, clothing, & food. The majority of the time there is a shortfall in at least one of these
areas as a result of higher cost in another. These situations exacerbate the situation for these
families and can lead to further degradation of their support systems.
Nearly 30% of the Dallas County residents living below the poverty line are under the age of 18
(Jacobson). Teens affected by poverty are five times more likely to drop out of high school
(Rumberger). Children and young adults are the most affected by living in poverty and it can
have long lasting impacts on their ability to succeed.

Children in Poverty
Children living in poverty are typically not able to perform as well as they should.
Malnourishment, absenteeism, a lack of adequate clothing & supplies, as well as social stresses
are known to distract a student and affect their ability to succeed. Without a proper education a
child will be unable to exceed their parents and lift themselves out of poverty as they mature.

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Our History
We have a history of social responsibility. Giving back to the communities where we
work and live is a deeply held value at Macys, Inc. We are proud that our contributions,
leadership and volunteer efforts help create strong communitiesproviding a better environment
for our stores to do business and for our employees and customers to live and work (Macy's,
Inc).

Solution
We can provide them clothing to go to school, to interview in, and to work in. We can
improve their housing situations by providing them with basic house wares and bedding. These
items can be taken from clearance stock at points during the year and will not cause an impact on
our sales profits.
Working with the Wilkinson Center we can distribute these goods to the most needing members
of the community. The Wilkinson Center will ensure that the members of the community most in
need of the resources will receive them. The center will also continue to work with the families
to give them an opportunity to escape poverty.
The Wilkinson Center is a leading poverty rescue and prevention agency for the working
poor, serving over 14,000 people annually, mainly in east and southeast Dallas.
Wilkinson Center offers hope, inspiration, and the basic necessities and tools to empower
its clients to become self-sufficient and improve their lives (Wilkinson Center).

Environmental stability
It is estimated that 21 billion pounds of textile waste ends up in landfills each year (BenAchour). We have taken efforts to ensure environmental sustainability within our supply chain;
we can take further efforts by donating goods that would otherwise end up in a landfill. These
efforts together will engender goodwill for Macy's and provide a valuable service to the local
community.

5 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

Proposal
Macys North Dallas retailers propose the creation of a new program that involves the
donation of outdated clothing styles, home accessories, and small house appliances: this
proposed program will be introduced as Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys. The
programs main purpose is to equip those individuals in poverty with wearable clothes, small
appliances (toasters, blenders, etc.), and home accessories (dishes, dcor, etc.). Through this
program, Macys will help to provide a more dignified living experience and higher levels of self
esteem to individuals in need. To ensure this program is successful, Macys will team up
specifically with the Wilkinson Center and through this partnership fulfill a need that the North
Dallas community is missing in the DFW area: retailers helping the DFW community. Not only
will Macys benefit by giving back to the community, but also the company will earn helpful
tax-breaks. Texas is among the top states in poverty; therefore, the Wilkinson Center seeks to
alleviate this by contributing towards the decrement of poverty in east and southeast Dallas.
Macys North Dallas retailers would like to test Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys in
the North Dallas area. If successful, the program would be expanded to other parts of the country
to gradually help more communities. Poverty has become a major problem that only increased
after the 2007 recession. The Wilkinson Center is an appropriate association to help with this
project due to its extensive 30 years of experience helping the poor break from the poverty cycle.
This association helps and supports 14,000 people annually. Therefore, the Macys North Dallas
retailers feel this partnership will lead to a great success!
We should meet to discuss this proposal before implementing it and a face to face meeting would
be most beneficial to clarify any questions.

Values
Macys has strong values, and one of them is giving back to the community. With this
proposal, Macys employees have the option to be highly involved in helping those in need.
Macys always looks for organic and informative ways to reach its employees, while at the same
time encouraging them to contribute to these efforts. The best way to reach employees for this
project is by informing them about this organization and giving them statistics on how Dallas is
being affected by poverty.

Community
Macys looks at this effort as a way to give back to the community through donating
outdated styles that were unable to be sold in-store. When clothing items, house accessories, and
small home appliances are not able to sell at their original prices they are placed on the sale rack.
6 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

Having these items in store slows down shelf space movement and reduces the amount of space
available for Macys newest items. Therefore, Macys North Dallas retailers propose to donate
25% of these clearance items to the Wilkinson Center biannually; the donation will take place
during the spring and fall cleanup. Keep in mind that not all clearance items can be donated;
every item considered must be on the discount rack for more than a month and under a certain
price value.

Involvement
Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys has to consider the transportation of the
donated goods and the cost of such activity. Macys North Dallas retailers would like to propose
using the same delivery trucks Macys uses for regular merchandise delivery. Using Macys
trucks will yield a smaller expense in comparison to leasing delivery trucks to deliver donated
goods to the Wilkinson Center.
Macys North Dallas retailers know that for Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys to be a
success, the program requires commitment from a well built team structure and vast awareness
of the topic. For that reason, Macys North Dallas retailers would also like to focus on creating
awareness within these stores/locations. Such awareness will be created through the following
techniques:
1. Create eye-catching bulletin board materials using infographics that illustrate the
poverty issue in Dallas
2. Send bulletin signage along an explanatory email to North Dallas retailers
management group
3. Delegate project team members to visit North Dallas locations to give a short
presentation on the project
4. Rely on word-of-mouth, a more organic way of reaching employees, to generate
volunteers for the project

Inspiration
The goal of these efforts is to inspire Macys employees to donate their time and help
with Macys program Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys. The employees are needed
to drive delivery trucks to the Wilkinson center and interact with people there. Macys would
also like to create an incentive for employees to help with a yearly raffle awarding $300, $200,
and $100 cash prizes. This raffle will take place during the fall clean up, and employees involved
in the Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys program have the chance to put their names
in; if they participate in the spring clean up as well, they are eligible for another entry into the
raffle. In this way employees will be inspired to participate all year long. Even though the
employee can take the money for himself, he will also be given the option to donate it back into
the program.

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Plan
The majority of the times when companies such as Macys are unable to sell clearance
items these items are put in the garbage and sent to landfills or they have excess in clearance
(Chalupa). We are proposing that the Galleria, Collin Creek, North Park, Willow Bend Macys
donate clearance items biannually at the end of the winter season and summer season. We are
suggesting that the aforementioned Macys donate to the Wilkinson Center that have programs in
place to help people to learn skills to better themselves and donates to those truly in need.

Execution
To carry out this plan into action the company only has to undergo some minor changes
to its system. Our plan will be implemented at Galleria, Collin Creek, North Park, Willow Bend
Macys in the North Dallas area.
Planning: First we must meet with the Wilkinson Center to make sure the Center is will
use the resources in the proper manner so a surveyor that will be a supervisor that will be there
for the process from beginning to end. The surveyor should be sent to inspect the Wilkinsons
Centers facilities to make sure they will be servicing people who need our products.

This team would be a temporary team and should be probably come have at
least one person from with the Macys store that will be donating to be on the
survey team to give inside insight. The insider will be someone from the
procurement side of the practice seeing as they will know the process of how
items come and go through the Macys store. They will be compensated for this
work with the agreed upon wage upon accepting this position. This whole
selection process should not take longer than two weeks at the most.
Implementation: two members of the Macys team in each department at every store is to
sort through clearance items in order to distinguish whether the specific items can be donated.
They will be in charge of sorting through the items in clearance and judge whether or not an item
should be donated.
We will be imposing a 30% maximum donation from clearance so we can help
prevent a company from over donating.

A training program will be set in place to help determine what products the
company will donate

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Reorganization: The Company needs to allocate an area where it will keep the items the
Macys wants to donate until the delivery date, because the process of sorting through all the
clearance items could take from two to three weeks.
The reorganization could take anywhere between a month to two weeks. Bins
should be set up for the clothes to be put in until the donation is scheduled to be
taken to the donation facility.
Transport: Macys will need to have a way to transport these items there needs to be a
system to be put in place to get the donated items to the Wilkinsons center. We will hire a truck
driver for the scheduled days and will pay them $16.00 per hour as is their Median wage
("Truckdrivers Career Information"). The delivery will differ depending on the distance of the
clothing facility.
At least one truck driver and truck will be needed for each location.
Depending on the size of the load and times need to transport this should cost
around $96 per drop off.

The Benefit: the benefit of this program is it is helping a social need in the area by helping
supply people with clothing ,but it is also helping the company become greener because we are
no longer disposing of items in a landfill. If we start advertising that we are helping out local
communities it could cause an increase in revenue for people who support these efforts. The
biggest bonus to Macys is that we can write this as a tax write off saving money for the
company.

Scheduling
A basic time table for this to occur would look similar to the one below:
Figure 2: Collection Time Table

Activity
Hire - a supervisor to oversee the process
from start to finish
Surveying - Of the Wilkinson Center
checking if the center can handle the stores
donations.
Initial Planning - with the Wilkinson
Center we will be setting up a devilry
program that will work best with our stores
and the Center.
Marketing - Begin local campaign

Date
5/1/14 to 6/1/14
6/3/14 to 6/5/14

6/5/14 to 6/11/14

6/5/14 to 6/20/14
9 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

advertising what we are doing in the

community
Reorganization - Of the Galleria, Collin
Creek, North Park, Willow Bend Macys
storage rooms to make room for a collection
area for the items
Sorting - Have the two member team in
each department sort from clearance to
determine the items to donate
Delivery - to Wilkinson Center this could
take more time depending on the donations.
The stores will have assigned days to donate
their products during this time period.
Marketing - Interview people from the
center and people saying how this program
is beneficial to the community

6/5/14 to 6/20/14

6/20/14 to 7/11/14

7/11/14 to 7/21/14

7/5/14 to 7/20/14

If we were to have this proposal approved and funded by the company before April
30,2014 , then the Galleria, Collin Creek, North Park, Willow Bend Macys time line would look
like be similar to the timetable above.

Promotional Events
We are planning to get the word out with a local campaign explain what we are doing and
how we are different and better from our competitor by being environmentally friendly and
supporting locals in the area. We are planning on having a National television ad having a Slice
of Life styled commercial from someone who benefits from this program. And contact local
newspapers to get ads place in to news papers.
Figure 3: Event Timeline

Promotion
Slice of Life Commercial

Newspaper Interview

Facebook advertisement

Description
This will be a local commercial showing
what is like to be a person and need who
benefitted from our work and how the
donations from Macys helped them
The company will have local newspapers
interview the worker who participated in
helping with this program, volunteers from
the Wilkinson center , and the surveyors
The company will be having facebook
advertisements set up based on the zip code
of the viewer. The link will lead to a
webpage that has our Slice of Life
10 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

In Store Advertisement

commercial video and a description of what

our companys our doing to help their
environment
The stores will have window advertisement
displaying that what we are doing in the
community and posters around the store.

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Staffing
Staffing will consist of the following, per store:
Figure 4: Staffing

Role

Responsibility

Number of Staff Required

Project Supervisor

Oversees the process

Core Team

Sort through the items

Delivery Driver

Deliver selected items

Delivery Support

Help load/unload vehicle

1-2

Inventory Team

Keep inventory of donations

Compensation should be given based on one of the following options:

Figure 5: Compensation

Type

Description

Regular Pay

Regular hourly rate for work done during

regular work hours
Pay overtime hourly rate for work done
after the full-time hours mark
Larger bonus at the end of the year or an
annual raffle
i.e., for every 20 hours put into the project,
an employee can receive up to one hour of
paid time off

Overtime Pay
Bonus
Extra Time Off

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Budget
The estimated budget for this project is $160,384.00. Of the proposed amount, $120,384.00 will
be provided by Macys through donations and the fundraising event. We will also be receiving
contributions from Legacy Bank of Texas of $40,000.00

Source of Funding
Figure 6: Funding

The housing for the event will be the Wilkinson Center, located at 3402 N Buckner Blvd #302,
Dallas, TX 75228. It will be a large convention center with plenty of space and the perfect place
to host this event. We will pay Macys department store employees to set up the event.
The event will promote goodwill for Macys, and we can write off a portion of the expenses in
next years taxes.

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Figure 7: Budget

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Authorization Request
The Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys campaign will work to provide a higher
quality of life to Dallas citizens who are most in need. By providing clothing and household
goods to these families the campaign engenders a generation of goodwill and positive brand
recognition.
We have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the local community that will have long
lasting benefits. The campaign helps to ensure that these families have an opportunity to succeed
and furthers Macys contributions to sustainability.
Therefore, I approve the Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys campaign and grant the
$120,384.00 budget requisition required for the campaign.

____________________
Date

_____________________________
Brad Jakeman
EVP, Creative Strategy
Macy's Corporate Marketing

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Works Cited
Atanasova, Vasilka. How Much Does It Cost to Hire Movers. 2012. Website. 23 April 2014.
<http://www.mymovingreviews.com/move/how-much-does-it-cost-to-hire-movers>.
Ben-Achour, Sabri. What do stores do with unsold merchandise? 10 March 2014. Website. 23 April 2014.
<http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/ive-always-wondered/what-do-stores-dounsold-merchandise-0>.
City-Data.com. Dallas, Texas (TX) Poverty Rate Data - Information about poor and low income residents.
2014. Website. 23 April 2014. <http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Dallas-Texas.html>.
Dallas, Texas (TX) income map, earnings map, and wages data. 2014. Website. 23 April 2014.
<http://www.city-data.com/income/income-Dallas-Texas.html>.
Jacobson, Sherry. Study: Nearly 30% of Dallas County children growing up in poverty. 12 November
2013. Website. 23 April 2014. <http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20131112-studynearly-30-of-dallas-county-children-growing-up-in-poverty.ece>.
Jensen, Eric. Chapter 2. How Poverty Affects Behavior and Academic Performance. 2009. Website. 23
April 2014. <http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-AffectsBehavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx>.
. How Poverty Affects Classroom Engagement. May 2013. Website. 23 April 2014.
<http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-PovertyAffects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx>.
Kids In Distressed Situations, Inc. GIVE: GET INVOLVED. 2013. Website. 23 April 2014.
<http://www.kidsdonations.org/mad_poverty.htm>.
Lindenberger, Michael A. Jobs aplenty in Dallas, but poverty stays high. 02 Febuary 2014. Website. 23
April 2014. <http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20140201-jobs-aplenty-indallas-but-poverty-stays-high.ece>.
Macy's, Inc. Giving Back to Our Communities. 2014. Website. 23 April 2014.
<http://www.macysinc.com/community>.
Macy's, Inc. What We're Doing: Packed to Protect. 2014. Website. 23 April 2014.
<http://www1.macys.com/campaign/earthday/ecopackaging.jsp?cm_sp=turnoveranewleaf-_sitelet-_-checkitout>.
National Center for Children in Poverty. Ten Important Questions About Child Poverty and Family
Economic Hardship. 2014. Website. 23 April 2014. <http://www.nccp.org/faq.html>.
Rumberger, Russell W. Poverty and high school dropouts. May 2013. Website. 23 April 2014.
<http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/poverty-dropouts.aspx>.
16 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

SchoolSoup.com. Truckdrivers Career Information. 2014. Website. 23 April 2014.

<http://www.schoolsoup.com/careers/career_info.php?career_id=222>.
U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau: State and County QuickFacts. 27 March 2014. Website. 23 April
2014. <http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/48113.html>.
Wilkinson Center. About Us. 2011. Website. 23 April 2014. <http://thewilkinsoncenter.org/dallas/mediainformation>.

17 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys

Links (not part of presentation)

Introduction
http://www1.macys.com/campaign/earthday/ecopackaging.jsp?cm_sp=turnoveranewleaf-_-sitelet-_checkitouthttp://www1.macys.com/campaign/earthday/ecopackaging.jsp?cm_sp=turnoveranewleaf-_sitelet-_-checkitout
http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Dallas-Texas.htmlhttp://www.citydata.com/poverty/poverty-Dallas-Texas.html
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/ive-always-wondered/what-do-stores-do-unsoldmerchandise-0http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/ive-always-wondered/what-do-stores-dounsold-merchandise-0
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/ive-always-wondered/what-do-stores-do-unsoldmerchandise-0
Background
http://www.macysinc.com/community/http://www.macysinc.com/community/
http://thewilkinsoncenter.org/dallas/media-information/http://thewilkinsoncenter.org/dallas/mediainformation/
http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Dallas-Texas.htmlhttp://www.citydata.com/poverty/poverty-Dallas-Texas.html
http://www.city-data.com/income/income-Dallas-Texas.htmlhttp://www.city-data.com/income/incomeDallas-Texas.html
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/48113.htmlhttp://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/48113.
html
http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/48113http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/48113
http://www.bls.gov/ro6/fax/blssummary_dallas_fort_worth.pdfhttp://www.bls.gov/ro6/fax/blssummary_
dallas_fort_worth.pdf
http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.tx_dallas_msa.htmhttp://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.tx_dallas_msa.htm
http://cssr.berkeley.edu/pdfs/lowIncomeFam.pdfhttp://cssr.berkeley.edu/pdfs/lowIncomeFam.pdf
http://www.nccp.org/faq.htmlhttp://www.nccp.org/faq.html
http://www.kidsdonations.org/mad_poverty.htmhttp://www.kidsdonations.org/mad_poverty.htm
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-Poverty-AffectsClassroom-Engagement.aspxhttp://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-Poverty-Affects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-AcademicPerformance.aspxhttp://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-AffectsBehavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx
http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/povertydropouts.aspxhttp://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/poverty-dropouts.aspx
http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/poverty-dropouts.aspx
Plan
http://www.schoolsoup.com/careers/career_info.php?career_id=222#http://www.schoolsoup.com/career
s/career_info.php?career_id=222%23
http://www.mymovingreviews.com/move/how-much-does-it-cost-to-hire-movers

18 | Pathways out of Poverty with Style at Macys