The 2025 Eugene and Joan Kalkin Retailing Initiative Guest Lecturer
Kevin Bailey
April 8, 2025
3:00 - 4:00pm
Keller Room, Ifshin Hall
About Kevin Bailey
Kevin Bailey has over 40 years working with founders and leading brands across the apparel and footwear sector. Starting out on the shop floors of in retail stores and building a career across the globe in Fashion, Outdoor, Athletic and Lifestyle.
Most recently Kevin retired from VF Corporation after over 20 years leading global brands as a member of the Executive Leadership Team. At VF he started by accelerating Vans Direct to Consumer business and then as President, led Vans transformation to a cultural icon for youth, tripling in size to over $2.2B to become VF’s largest brand in 2016, before moving to Hong Kong as President of Asia Pacific leading and evolving VFs portfolio of brands in Asia Pacific including 3100 retail stores and digital business for The North Face, Timberland, Dickies, Lee and Wrangler. In 2020 he returned to the US to build the approach to an Emerging Brands group at VF focused on accelerating brands under $1 Billion including Dickies, Supreme, Kipling, Jansport, Altra, Smartwool and Icebreaker. Wrapping up his time at VF, he returned to Vans to initiate a brand turnaround and ultimately was asked by the incoming CEO to lead a VF company-wide transformation initiative aimed at reducing and reinvesting operating costs by over $300m.
Prior to VF, Kevin has an extensive global background as Executive Vice President of Lucky Brand Jeans, Director of Global Retail Operations for Nike and early retail career roles with Banana Republic, Eastern Mountain Sports and American Eagle Outfitters.
Kevin recently launched Shadow Advisors, focused on coaching early-stage Founder CEOs’ brand and business strategies, serves as a CEO coach to Seager Brand, a Senior Business Development and Strategy Advisor for Fashion at Jellybean, and sits on the advisor board of Wildwood Ventures.
The Eugene and Joan Kalkin Retailing Initiative
Eugene Kalkin had a long and distinguished career in retailing, most notably as the innovative founder of the highly successful chain Linens ‘n Things. When he launched Linens ‘n Things in 1975, Eugene Kalkin applied what at the time was a novel set of merchandising techniques to develop a chain of stores selling quality products at discount prices in a no-frills warehouse environment. When Eugene sold the company in 1983, Linens ‘n Things had become one of the nation’s largest and most profitable specialty retailers of home textiles, housewares, and decorative home accessories.
With his wife Joan, Eugene Kalkin has been a leading philanthropist at the University of Vermont (UVM) for five decades. By establishing this Fund at the Grossman School of Business (GSB), the Kalkins are paying tribute to Eugene’s long and distinguished career as a retailer. This Fund is also an important part of their legacy of philanthropy, which includes their historic gift in 1986 to name Kalkin Hall as the home of UVM’s business school.
The Initiative includes the following initial academic and professional activities. These activities will expand based on student engagement and interest.
- New and expanded course offerings covering topics including “Foundations of Retailing”, “Advanced Seminar in Corporate Retail Strategy and Planning” (this course will cover the strategic use of technology via digital and e-Retailing), and “Retailing in Vermont.”
- Experiential opportunities for local and travel-based retail site visits look behind-the-scenes in retailing
- Networking opportunities with industry experts at top trade events, as well as on campus and on site
- Scholarship opportunities through the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Foundation
- Speakers on innovations in retailing
- An annual Careers in Retailing alumni/professional panel for students on campus
- Participation in case competitions such as the Retail Challenge sponsored by the National Retail Federation (https://nrffoundation.org/studentchallenge)
- Founding of a UVM chapter of the National Retail Federation Student Association (NRFSA) for students from across campus interested in learning more about internships, careers and opportunities in Retailing. The NRFSA is a membership organization offering Forums and hosting Affinity Groups in the area of retailing.
For more information about the retailing initiative, contact the Coordinator of the Initiative, Dr. Amy M. Tomas (amy.tomas@uvm.edu)