One Successful Product
John Butcher BS'96
Vice President of Merchandise Planning, Target Corporation
“Not only does the Kelley School provide a well-rounded understanding of business taught by top-rated professors in a world-class facility, the School is located in the heart of the most beautiful campus in the Midwest. What’s not to love?”
Have you ever noticed that when you go to your neighborhood Target in search of paper towels, you often leave with candlesticks and a throw rug that you didn’t even realize you needed?
That’s largely because of the ability of Target’s merchandising departments to stock stylish and attractive items that are also affordable. As vice president of merchandise planning for Target, Kelley graduate John Butcher oversees teams that buy and manage the inventory of apparel and accessories, home products, and healthcare items for almost 1,700 Target stores.
Butcher came to Kelley because of the School’s strong national reputation for generating business leaders of the future, and he attributes his success at Target to the strong functional foundation in business that Kelley provides. “In my past seven jobs at Target I’ve needed an understanding of finance, operations, marketing, technology, entrepreneurship, international business, and a host of other skills that I learned at Kelley,” he says.
Butcher is confident that the Kelley School has provided him with a foundation for addressing the business challenges he faces at Target, and he thinks that students considering Kelley for their business education can count on similar preparation. “Not only does the Kelley School provide a well-rounded understanding of business taught by top-rated professors in a world-class facility, the School is located in the heart of the most beautiful campus in the Midwest,” he says. “What’s not to love?”
