The TREF

In 2001, The Texas Retailers Education Foundation was formed to be a non-profit 501(C)(3) organization. The mission of this new foundation is to attract students into the retail industry.

The initial program is Youth Opportunities in Retailing (YOR). In a component of Retail Employer Link to Education (RELE), the National Retail Federation Foundation has undertaken a major initiative that promotes and strengthens retail industry involvement in education. The RELE Connection was developed to support the implementation of the successful YOR program, and to disseminate partnership guidelines and turnkey tools to employers and educators.

The goal of Texas YOR is to provide Texas Students with a foundation of academic, personal, and professional skills that will prepare them for retail careers in accordance to the Customer Service and Sales Skills Standards and the National Professional Certification in Customer Service.

A unique Internship program utilizing college students is being created in order to efficiently expand and enhance the current YOR program to high schools throughout the State of Texas. College students in marketing/retail studies will intern with the Foundation under the direction of the YOR program director to implement YOR/RELE program.

Employer education is also a key component of the Foundation. TREF provides seminars and luncheons for retail employers to learn about industry standards, employee training and HR concerns. To contact our office, call 512-472-8261 or email at info@tref.info.