The parent group leaders should never lose track of one very important thing.  Self funded holiday shops can be very difficult to manage and have a lot of “hidden” costs.

Primarily, a local store or online retail vendor does not specialize in the”school holiday shop” market.  They don’t provide the selling materials necessary to make your shop a success – we do. You may save some money purchasing your products locally, it actually costs more. Add up the extra costs, such as gas, time, unsold merchandise, storing the unsold merchandise, etc.  The choice to “go local” is filled with pitfalls. We urge you to choose a reputable school holiday shop vendor as apposed to trying to buy all the products independently. Below are some important “school holiday shop” pointers to keep in mind during the decision making process.

Run your “In School Holiday Shop” with a qualified supplier with experience – 7 Review Reasons Why:

• First of all, the parent group will be stuck with what you don’t sell – but all our merchandise is on consignment
• Additionally, you will pay shipping when you buy your products up front – no shipping charges with our school holiday boutique program.
• Furthermore, you will pay shipping when you place re-orders – not with our school holiday boutique program.
• The PTA will not have selling and marketing materials; such as bags, tablecloths, posters, envelopes, etc – you get all that and more from us.
• You will have a huge paperwork load – but not with us
• You will wind up making numerous runs to local 99¢ cent stores to re-stock – need more goods, call us
• Above all, most 99¢ stores don’t carry customized items – we do.

Key aspects to school Santa shop planning is extremely important – like the adage goes “Good planning prevents poor Performance”. Make sure you take the time in planning your in-school shop.  Need assistance or have questions on “best practices” then please visit our “Contact us” page and send us your “Holiday Shop” questions. We take our coaching seriously because we want you to succeed.

Top 10 Noteworthy Best Practices for your School Holiday Shop

• First of all, estimate how much merchandise your school will require
• Most noteworthy, get proper approval or authorization from “school holiday shop” decision maker; principal or vice principal
• Plan your shoppe dates way ahead of time – and sign up early to get a start date that “you” want
• Reserve your space; room, auditorium, etc
• Line up the appropriate number of reliable volunteers
• Open boxes upon delivery – confirm all holiday shop inventory
• Group your opened merchandise properly and use our free tent cards for pricing
• Decide how you will mark up the merchandise – that decision is yours alone – not ours
• Allow one extra day for snow day or other delays
• Set up a “Preview Day”, for students to browse what they want to buy
• Finally, make sure you have enough change on hand for transactions

The success of your school holiday shop is, in large part, based on your choice of supplier / vendor. Make sure your supplier provides you with all the selling materials and customer support to make your shop a success – and remember, you have to take part in that process as well – but picking the right supplier will make all the difference.

 Make your School Holiday Shop a Great Success: 7 Important Steps

• First of all, volunteer and sponsor commitment is key – so you have to be “hands on” and “involved”
• Distribute parent letters to the children ahead of time because you want to can count on full parent support for your event.
• Place shop posters in high visibility areas such as lunchroom and front office
• Mark all tables properly for ease of shopping
• Take advantage of the support materials, such as:
  • Tablecloths – help create a festive mood
  • Free tent cards – they can be pre-priced with a 10% or 20% markup or you can customize them anyway you like.
  • Gift Bags – makes it easy for the kids; they come in three different sizes
  • Budget envelopes – urge parents to fill them out, especially for younger students
• Display all products – try not to judge what you think will sell.  Kids are fickle – and you would be surprised at how much money their parents give them to spend
• Finally, a create a festive mood. Play holiday music – have some volunteers wear Santa hats – have fun and enjoy…and remember it’s all for the kids.

The Right Vendor Makes all the Difference: 6 Reasons to work with our company

• We have been servicing the school holiday shop market for over 50 years.
• Our offices are open 9-5 Monday through Friday (E.S.T.) – always a live person.
• Furthermore, all staff call in for their messages if they are out or if we are closed for some reason.
• In addition, emails are checked remotely – so send us a message and we’ll answer it promptly.
• We are well trained on questions about holiday shop sales because we want you to succeed.
• Finally, you can get support from both our corporate sales office and our logistics facility. (Two for the price of one)

Are you ready to have some fun? Because we are sure ready to help you have some fun!