Laboratory Institute of Merchandising
Encyclopedia
LIM College is a private
for-profit coeducational undergraduate and graduate
educational institution focused on the business aspects of the fashion
industry. It is located in Midtown Manhattan
, and was founded in 1939 by Maxwell F. Marcuse as the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising, at the behest of retailers who wanted a school that would teach students about the fashion business and merchandising. In 2009, the school changed its name to LIM College. The college grants Bachelor's
degrees in Fashion Merchandising
, Visual Merchandising
, Marketing
, and Management
, associate
degrees in Fashion Merchandising, and Professional Certificates. LIM College also offers a Master of Business Administration
(MBA) degree with concentrations in Fashion Management and Entrepreneurship
. Elizabeth S. Marcuse has been president of the college since 2002, following Maxwell Marcuse's son, Adrian G. Marcuse, who was president from 1972 to 2002.
:
, Marketing
, and Management
. Concentrations are available in Cosmetics
, Entrepreneurship
, Event Planning
, Fashion Communications, Fashion Merchandising, Fashion Publishing, International Marketing
, Retailing
, Styling
, and Visual Merchandising
. Within the MBA program, concentrations are available in Fashion Management and Entrepreneurship
.
Undergraduate students must complete internships during three of their four years at LIM College. During freshman year, students work in a retail environment full-time for five weeks. Sophomore year includes another five-week, full-time work experience, either at the retail managerial level or in a corporate setting. During the spring of their senior year, students work full-time in a fashion industry intern
ship related to their specific career goals.
Graduate students must complete a comprehensive 51-credit program customized by the student and his/her advisor to integrate their background with their aspirations. The LIM College MBA also offers flexibility. Depending on whether students are full-time or part-time, they can complete the program in 12 months or 24 months, and take evening classes while still pursuing their career during the day.
and is a candidate for accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.
, BCBG
, Bebe
, Bergdorf Goodman
, Bloomingdale's
, Chanel
, Conde Nast
, Cotton Incorporated
, Diane Von Furstenberg
, Federated, Ferragamo, Gucci
, Hearst, Henri Bendel
, Juicy
, Lacoste, Liz Claiborne
, Macy’s, MTV
, Saks
, Sephora
, Tiffany
, Tommy Hilfiger
and Valentino.
, John Varvatos
, Jones Apparel Group
, Kenneth Cole Productions
, Liz Claiborne
, Macy’s, Mecca Femme, Neiman Marcus
, Ports 1961
, Ralph Lauren
and Yves St. Laurent
.
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
for-profit coeducational undergraduate and graduate
Graduate
Graduate refers to someone who has been the subject of a Graduation. See also: Alumnus.It may also refer to:* Graduate or University Graduate or College graduate someone who has been awarded a degree by a university or college....
educational institution focused on the business aspects of the fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
industry. It is located in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
, and was founded in 1939 by Maxwell F. Marcuse as the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising, at the behest of retailers who wanted a school that would teach students about the fashion business and merchandising. In 2009, the school changed its name to LIM College. The college grants Bachelor's
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
degrees in Fashion Merchandising
Buyer
When someone gets characterised by their role as buyer of certain assets, the term "buyer" gets new meaning:A "buyer" or merchandiser is a person who purchases finished goods, typically for resale, for a firm, government, or organization...
, Visual Merchandising
Visual merchandising
Visual merchandising is the activity and profession of developing floor plans and three-dimensional displays in order to maximise sales.Both goods or services can be displayed to highlight their features and benefits...
, Marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, and Management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, associate
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
degrees in Fashion Merchandising, and Professional Certificates. LIM College also offers a Master of Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
(MBA) degree with concentrations in Fashion Management and Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...
. Elizabeth S. Marcuse has been president of the college since 2002, following Maxwell Marcuse's son, Adrian G. Marcuse, who was president from 1972 to 2002.
Locations
LIM College is located in four buildings in Midtown ManhattanMidtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
:
- The Townhouse – 12 East 53rd Street) – 40.759823°N 73.975057°W
- Fifth Avenue – 545 Fifth Avenue – 40.755305°N 73.979365°W
- Maxwell Hall – 216 East 45th Street – 40.752185°N 73.97214°W
- The Center for Career Development – 226 East 54th Street – 40.757947°N 73.967934°W
- Third Avenue Residence Hall – 1760 Third Avenue – 40.786328°N 73.94874°W
Curriculum
LIM College offers undergraduate majors in Fashion Merchandising, Visual MerchandisingVisual merchandising
Visual merchandising is the activity and profession of developing floor plans and three-dimensional displays in order to maximise sales.Both goods or services can be displayed to highlight their features and benefits...
, Marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, and Management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
. Concentrations are available in Cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
, Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...
, Event Planning
Event planning
Event planning is the process of planning a festival, ceremony, competition, party, or convention. Event planning includes budgeting, establishing dates and alternate dates, selecting and reserving the event site, acquiring permits, and coordinating transportation and parking...
, Fashion Communications, Fashion Merchandising, Fashion Publishing, International Marketing
International marketing
International marketing or global marketing refers to marketing carried out by companies overseas or across national borderlines. This strategy uses an extension of the techniques used in the home country of a firm...
, Retailing
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
, Styling
Wardrobe stylist
A wardrobe stylist is the job title of someone who selects the clothing for published editorial features, print or television advertising campaigns, music videos, concert performances, and any public appearances made by celebrities, models or other public figures...
, and Visual Merchandising
Visual merchandising
Visual merchandising is the activity and profession of developing floor plans and three-dimensional displays in order to maximise sales.Both goods or services can be displayed to highlight their features and benefits...
. Within the MBA program, concentrations are available in Fashion Management and Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...
.
Undergraduate students must complete internships during three of their four years at LIM College. During freshman year, students work in a retail environment full-time for five weeks. Sophomore year includes another five-week, full-time work experience, either at the retail managerial level or in a corporate setting. During the spring of their senior year, students work full-time in a fashion industry intern
Intern
Internship is a system of onthejob training for white-collar jobs, similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. They may also be as young as middle school or in...
ship related to their specific career goals.
Graduate students must complete a comprehensive 51-credit program customized by the student and his/her advisor to integrate their background with their aspirations. The LIM College MBA also offers flexibility. Depending on whether students are full-time or part-time, they can complete the program in 12 months or 24 months, and take evening classes while still pursuing their career during the day.
Accreditation
LIM is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and SchoolsMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association dedicated to educational excellence and improvement through peer evaluation and accreditation...
and is a candidate for accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.
Enrollment
As of September 2011, LIM College’s undergraduate enrollment was 1,538. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 9 to 1 and the average class size is 17. There were also 57 students enrolled in the LIM College MBA program.Industry Partners
BarneysBarneys New York
Barneys New York is a chain of luxury department stores headquartered in New York City. The chain owns large stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, and smaller stores in other locations across the United States.Brands sold include...
, BCBG
Max Azria
Max Azria is a French fashion designer of Tunisian Jewish descent who founded the contemporary women's clothing brand BCBGMAXAZRIA. Azria is also the designer, chairman and CEO of BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP, a global fashion house that encompasses over 20 brands...
, Bebe
Bebe stores
bebe stores are an American clothing retailer founded in 1976. The name was inspired by, and is pronounced as in, the phrase "to be or not to be" from the play Hamlet. Manny Mashouf, who emigrated to the United States in the early 1970s, opened the first bebe store in San Francisco during a time...
, Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman is a luxury goods department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son Andrew Goodman....
, Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
, Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
, Conde Nast
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
, Cotton Incorporated
Cotton Incorporated
Cotton Incorporated aims "To increase the demand for and profitability of cotton through research and promotion." and "To ensure that cotton remains the first choice among consumers in apparel and home products." The organization is funded by cotton growers in the United States through per-bale...
, Diane Von Furstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg , is a Belgian-American fashion designer best known for her iconic wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon of Fürstenberg...
, Federated, Ferragamo, Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
, Hearst, Henri Bendel
Henri Bendel
Henri Bendel is an American upscale women's specialty store based in New York City that sells fashion accessories, cosmetics and fragrances, gifts and gourmet foods...
, Juicy
Juicy Couture
Juicy Couture is a contemporary line of both casual and dressy apparel based in Arleta, Los Angeles, California founded by Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor in 1996...
, Lacoste, Liz Claiborne
Liz Claiborne
Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500...
, Macy’s, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, Saks
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
, Sephora
Sephora
Sephora is a chain of cosmetics stores founded in France in 1970 and acquired by Paris-based conglomerate LVMH in 1997. The Sephora chain includes more than 750 stores in 17 countries...
, Tiffany
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue , which is a registered trademark.- History :...
, Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger is an American fashion designer and founder of the premium lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger.-Early life:...
and Valentino.
Alumni
LIM College alumni have worked at companies including Coach, EscadaEscada
Escada is an international luxury fashion group in women's designer clothing. The company has a presence in about 60 different countries. Its main sales markets are North America, western and eastern Europe and Asia. It filed bankruptcy in August 2009, and was acquired by Megha Mittal, in November...
, John Varvatos
John Varvatos
John Varvatos is an American contemporary high fashion menswear designer.- Biography :The Varvatos family are originally from the small village of Poulata on the Greek island of Cefalonia. John Varvatos was born in Detroit and grew up in Allen Park, a Downriver community situated south of the city...
, Jones Apparel Group
Jones Apparel Group
The Jones Group, Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is an American designer, marketer and wholesaler of branded clothing, shoes and accessories. Its headquarters are in New York City. The company also markets directly to consumers through their chain of specialty retail and value-based stores...
, Kenneth Cole Productions
Kenneth Cole Productions
Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. is an American fashion house founded in 1982 by Kenneth Cole. He originally named the company Kenneth Cole Incorporated in September 1982 and planned to showcase his new line of shoes during market week at the Hilton New York Hotel...
, Liz Claiborne
Liz Claiborne
Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500...
, Macy’s, Mecca Femme, Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
, Ports 1961
Ports 1961
Ports International commonly known as Ports, is fashion house founded in 1961 by the late Luke Tanabe, specializing in luxury ready-to-wear and accessories for the modern global woman...
, Ralph Lauren
Polo Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren Corporation is a luxury clothing and goods company of the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren specializes in high-end casual/semi-formal wear for men and women, as well as accessories, fragrances, home and housewares...
and Yves St. Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent (brand)
Yves Saint Laurent or YSL is a luxury fashion house founded by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé. Today, its chief designer is Stefano Pilati. Yves Saint Laurent, founder of the brand, died in 2008.-History:...
.