Sweet Taste of Success

by Rebekah Goode
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Students in the Rocky Top Institute of Retail get firsthand experience in the ice cream business

Story by Linda Billman | Photography by Steven Bridges

Artisan ice cream lovers and nostalgia-loving Vols have been lining up to experience what CEHHS and UT Institute of Agriculture students have been working to revitalize for months—the UT Creamery

For students majoring in retail and merchandising management, the experience provided valuable hands-on learning that enhanced their education and helped them ready for their careers after college. 

They ventured into a new domain in the food and beverage retail sector, and the fruits of their labor are evident. The UT Creamery is a bustling enterprise run by a cross section of interdisciplinary students who deliver an outstanding customer experience, student-made premium ice cream, and merchandise that they designed and sourced themselves.

A detail of Rocky Top Institute of Retail merchandise inside the UT Creamery on April 10, 2024. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee.

The creamery, which opened in September 2023, is a partnership between the Department of Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management’s Rocky Top Institute of Retail and the Department of Food Science in the Herbert College of Agriculture. Support for the project came from UT alumni Peg Smith and Sue Conley, co-founders of the Cowgirl Creamery in California. The Cowgirls suggested a sharp focus on the retail side of the creamery—branding, customer service, and merchandise—in addition to the high-quality ice cream. 

“The RTIR fellows actually named the flavors in the creamery using market research and their own creativity,” says RTIR senior Natalie Scott from Kingsport, Tennessee. “The names are based on different things at UT, which was important to keep it on the Vol train.”

The creamery serves VOLnilla, Torchbearer’s Chocolate, Smokey’s Strawberry Kisses, Mint Champion Chip, and Go Big Orange along with other seasonal flavors—all produced and named by UT students. 

“We designed all the merchandise such as T-shirts, bags, and drinkware starting with pencil drawings, then picking fabrics and colors, meeting with vendors, and actually picking up boxes of finished products. It’s been super fun and creative,” Scott says.

The UT Creamery project immersed RTIR fellows into business development through teamwork that included market research, product development, brand engagement, social media marketing, operations, finance, and other roles. Some of the fellows who worked on the project have since graduated. 

Scott learned about the opportunity to participate in Assistant Professor of Practice Myra Loveday’s product development class. 

“She invited current RTIR fellows to come in and talk about the program,” Scott says. “Learning the ins and outs of the retail business and being super creative was really important to me. I feel like I hit the program at a great time. The UT Creamery was on the rise with new products in the works.”

Creativity and fun underpinned with experience in product development, sales software training, merchandise strategies, and other essential retail know-how elevates the retail students’ preparedness and marketability in their career path, according to Loveday, who is also director of the RTIR. 

Retail and Merchandising Management students, from the Rocky Top Institute of Retail, work on products for the UT Creamery with the help of Myra Loveday, Assistant Professor of Practice and Rocky Top Institute Director, on April 10, 2024. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee.

“The UT Creamery provides students with a unique opportunity to apply their advanced retail skills in a real-world setting,” says Loveday. And when the students start their careers, the feedback is positive. 

“Ultimately we hear back from retailers how advanced our students are when they start their jobs,” she says.

The creamery now serves customers year-round, and students continue to hone their skills in areas such as new retail growth strategies and developing merchandise for the retail store and e-commerce initiatives. 

“To be competitive and fresh we have to have new products in the pipeline that are coming in on a regular basis. We have a road map and a pipeline for the next five years,” says Loveday. 

Shelves in the vintage-inspired shop, with its unexpected modern vibe, are lined with creamery and Rocky Top-themed merchandise such as clothing, drinkware, collectibles, and home decor products that appeal to a variety of customers.

“That’s a big thing I had to wrap my mind around—that we’re not just catering to college students. We’re making products for anyone coming into the creamery,” says Scott.

Student experiential learning has long been a part of the retail and merchandising management degree at the university. Building on the beverage and food category enriches student experiences.  

“Having the Rocky Top Institute of Retail and creating the value-add retail arm for the creamery is allowing us to showcase that our UT Knoxville is a destination for potential students looking for corporate or entrepreneurial retail pathways and positions them for growth and success in a diverse, competitive marketplace,” says Loveday. 

Scott says one of her most thrilling experiences was the grand opening. “Watching them cutting the ribbon, I remember thinking this whole operation is student-run. We had to think about the layout of the creamery, the vendors who supplied merchandise, training staff, everything. It was amazing to see it come full circle.”

During the fall 2023 semester, Scott received a job offer from Belk department store to be an assistant buyer. She credits the experiences she’s had at UT, her summer internship at Belk assisted by her professors, and the RTIR fellowship. 

“It’s super personal. For four years, you are not just a name on a spreadsheet, but a person with interests and goals,” says Scott. “I owe everything to my instructors. They help you along the way.” 

Loveday hopes to further expand student experiences with more food and beverage partnerships as well as global retail partners drawn in by the diversity, research, and expertise of UT’s world-class retail faculty. 

“We want our students to sit at the table wherever they want to be—whether it’s the vendor side or the retail side, making positive impactful decisions with the consumer in mind, or from a consulting standpoint—and being successful doing it,” says Loveday.

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