The Ride of a Lifetime

Bridges was thrilled to be selected as Aggie Sweetheart during her sophomore year. She spent much of that season on the road between Denton and College Station, as she had a role to play at the Fish Dance, Ring Dance and honors events, and was featured in the Cotton Bowl parade with a tiara and sash. “It was a fabulous year,” she said. “I’ll never forget attending the Texas A&M vs. TCU game, where I kissed the Corps Commander on the field at halftime as the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band spelled out my name.”

With all that excitement, it might be easy to miss perhaps the most significant part of her Aggie Sweetheart experience: She had a chance encounter with the vice president of hiring for Sanger-Harris, the Dallas-based retail chain that would later become Macy’s. A few years later, that connection would be the entry point to Bridges’ highly successful career.
 

Raymond “Eddy” Bridges ’62 was an architect living in Houston. “We hit it off immediately,” Bridges recalled. Their first date included a ride in Eddy’s dark blue 1964 Rolls Royce. A few Aggie football games together sealed the deal. The couple married a year later and eventually relocated to Aggieland, where Bridges brought her years of invaluable marketing experience with her.

In 2003, Bridges became the associate director of the Center for Retailing Studies in Mays Business School’s marketing department and was tasked with creating a course in merchandising for senior-level students. “That course included teaching the financial aspects of retail because running any retail business must include profitability as its primary goal,” she said. She sought to demystify the process of selecting the right product for the right market and to help students understand the core management principles at play behind every item on a shelf.

Bridges wanted to raise the profile of retail studies in the business school so that the best business students would take the field seriously. She also worked tirelessly to heighten the center’s visibility among corporate partners, proving through events like the Retailing Summit or a New York City trip for retail students that there was enormous benefit for employers in connecting with students and faculty from Mays to establish a talent pipeline.

Her career in academia proved as successful as her retail career. Bridges was later promoted to center director and received teaching awards in 2009 and 2012. “I absolutely loved my work at Mays,” she said. “I am so grateful for both those honors and the opportunity to serve Texas A&M.”

One of Bridges’ former students, Lauren Hill ’07, recalled the experience of riding in Bridges’ “wake in the retail industry” as she discussed the opportunities she had as a student to meet with executives at top brands, both in New York City and Texas. Hill went on to have her own successful career that echoed Bridges’, with progressive leadership positions at Neiman Marcus, The Container Store, and her current employer, Target, where she is the director of merchandising for home goods. 

“I wouldn’t have had the opportunities I had without Mrs. Bridges’ guidance, advice, connections and network,” Hill said of her mentor. “She has been such a huge part of my journey.”