My internship at L Brands
As a JD/MBA student, I am taking a little bit of a non-traditional route to employment after graduation. I am looking for a path that allows me to use the skills I acquired from both programs to find a dynamic career. Thankfully, thru Fisher Career Services, I was given the opportunity to work for L Brands this summer in somewhat of a unique role.
I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do over this past summer. I had always been interested in real estate, but wasn’t sure exactly in what capacity I wanted to be. When I had the opportunity to work in retail real estate, I was intrigued. Despite seeing all the “malls are dying” stories in the news, I am a firm believer that retail is changing, but certainly not going away. My experience at L Brands this summer solidified this.
I spent 12 weeks at the fashion retailer in their real estate department, working in the department that handles the leases for all brick-and-mortar locations across the globe. L Brands (Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Pink, La Senza, Henri Bendel) has some of the best real estate assets in the retail world, and I got to see first hand why this is true.
I was given the opportunity to see all sides of the process, including the forecasting, negotiating, and execution of making the most financially compelling deals for the company. I viewed each task I performed thru the lens of being a real estate investor— and acted as if my own personal money was on the line.
The coolest part of my experience was getting to travel on-site and see how the different brands operate in different types of venues. One of my trips this summer to a market outside Columbus allowed me to view the market holistically, see how the brands operate in strip centers vs. enclosed malls, and what capital investments make sense to produce the highest return.
I was thankful for the opportunity to negotiate with landlords, participate in the capital forecasting process, validating tactical planning strategies, and see how each deal in each venue is completely different. Luckily, I will be able to continue working there part-time during my last year of graduate school, and am excited for the opportunity to learn more.