Start by creating a business plan. Better yet, have your school store manager create one. It can be simple or extravagant. You\u2019ll want to calculate costs and potential profits, and outline a general plan of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Location. Location. Location.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Location is as important for a school store as it is for real estate. If you don\u2019t have a designated spot for your store, it can be as easy as setting up a table in a hot spot. Think about high traffic areas such as busy hallways, lunchrooms, or activity areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Hours of Operation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another key factor in determining success is making sure your store is accessible to students. Choose one or two key days per week, or a couple of optimal hours each day. Consider before and after school, and during lunch. Be sure to schedule hours during activities outside the school day such as open houses, athletic events or concerts. You may also want to consider having special extended hours during peak times such as Homecoming and Spirit Week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Choose your Merchandise Well<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are just starting out, the basics are all you’ll need. As you begin to see profits you can re-invest in new and exciting stock. Bringing in new items helps keep interest and excitement high. If you\u2019re on a tight budget, start with items in your school colors to save money on the imprinting. Later, you can add items with your school name, logo or mascot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best-selling school store items include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Staff your Store<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Students are critical when it comes to staffing your store. They\u2019ll learn valuable lessons and help generate interest and excitement in your store. Come up with different job assignments such as, cashier, stock, inventory, advertising etc. Create job descriptions and help students gain experience in all areas. Be sure to train your team on how to sell. The right sales people can make a world of difference<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Go Hi-Tech<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We all know that life exists online for most people. Find a way to give parents and community members access to your store online. Some options include a weekly email with current \u201cspecials,\u201d an actual website for your store, or a page on your schools website and social media sites. The more ways you reach parents, the more excitement you\u2019ll see and the more profits you\u2019ll generate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Advertising and Promotions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the old tried and true methods of advertising still work. Create posters and banners to hang throughout the school and run ads in the school newsletter. Offer specials and promotions each week or month. Sell gift certificates that can be purchased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Have Fun!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Enjoy the spirit of the project. Don\u2019t get stressed out or bogged down with the details. Let the students sail the ship; you just provide the map to do so. In the end you\u2019ll have a successful school store, give immeasurable experience to your students, and help promote school spirit and morale among the entire student body and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shop andersons.com now to stock up on everything you need to open and maintain a successful – and profitable – school store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019re getting ready to open a school store in your high school, or re-vamp the one you have, these eight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,13,32],"tags":[834,927,924,926],"class_list":["post-5781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fundraising-elementary-school-high-school","category-high-school","category-school-store-high-school","tag-high-school-store","tag-how-to-open-a-school-store","tag-school-store-essentials","tag-school-store-tips"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5781"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5799,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions\/5799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Andersons_student-engagement_fundraising\"](\"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/hc_fund_blog_mainimage1.jpg\")
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