If your PTA is looking for ways to raise money for your school then setting up a school shop may be the answer. We won’t be discussing your typical school supply shops school uniforms shops or team spirit shops. Instead we will be talking about creating an annual school holiday shops event that will raise money and promote good relations in the community.
School holiday shops…What are my choices?
In this article we will address 2 ways for your PTA to set up an elementary school shop. We will address the pros and the cons that you can make an educated decision. Which ever way you choose, we know that your students and your community will enjoy it!
So let’s discuss the first school holiday shop option for your consideration.
Set up elementary school holiday shops featuring local vendors.
This is a great way to help local businesses in your community. Small mom and pop shops are the backbone of the American community. Many of them struggle to compete with big box businesses. When you hold a school shop for the holidays you introduce your students and their families to these business owners. By the way this can also be done with national company as well.
How does it work? You will set up the location and connect these small business vendors to your fans. You can either get paid a table fee or a straight 10-20% commission on all sales. Finally, you may consider combining both of these together by charging a table fee and a small commission.
For this to work you will have to advertise this heavily.
- Print up fliers and distribute them in your community.
- Place free advertisement on craigslist and any local Facebook groups in your area.
- Reach out to former alumni at alumni events and tell them about the school store. Tell them how their participation will support academic excellence in the next school generation.
- Send home fliers with your students announcing the school holiday shop fundraiser.
- Finally, share the event with all of your Facebook list. And encourage all of your students to do the same on their favorite social media accounts.
Pros of running local vendor holiday shops
There are many advantages of running a holiday school shop this way. Here are just a few.
- This can be done once or twice a year. You can do it either in the spring or for the autumn holiday season.
- Combine it with a bazaar with games and fun activities for everyone in the family.
- This can be a profitable school fundraiser. As discussed you can easily charge a 10-20% profit margin with the vendors. So make sure your vendors selling items your students, families and neighbors will want to buy.
- You will need a large area to set up vendor tables and allow the grounds of customers to walk through the menu. So consider using your gymnasium or students lunch room. Furthermore, you might even consider doing it outside if the weather permits.
- This will work equally well for a middle school or high school too.
Cons running local vendor school shops for the holidays
Honestly, while this model can be perfect for a fundraiser, there will be challenges.
So, we want to let you know about them upfront so that you know what you are getting into. After all, you want to make an educated decision that you can feel good about before your PTA board, right?
Some of the cons of running this model school shop include the following:
Time
Please understand this will take a lot of time to organize and plan the holiday school shop. Expect weeks of reaching out to potential vendors, coordination, negotiation and marketing. Your goal is to have 15 to 20 vendors at your school shopping event.
Reputation
Take the time out to check out the reputation of each vendor. After all, you will be introducing you will be encouraging your neighbors and family to purchase from them. A good place to start would be Google and yelp reviews. Also check out Facebook and see what people have said about them. Finally, check out the Better Business Bureau listing.
Lack of space.
Some schools do not logistically have the space to run a holiday school shop like this.
Lack of volunteers.
You will need lots of volunteers to pull this off. You will need volunteers to coordinate, research and contact vendors, set up and decorate your holiday school shop. So this means you will need everyone on the PTA to help along with any other parents that can assist.
Lack of time.
Let’s face it. We are all busy. We have families to take care of. Furthermore we have homes to keep clean and maintain. Additionally we have jobs to pay the bills. So any left over time is precious to us.
Thinking about holding your school shop outdoors?
You’ll need to have a back up plan in case it rains. Additionally you will need to run power outdoors for vendors spaces in lighting?
School shops that sell expensive items.
Depending on your schools demographics many of the local vendors may be selling merchandise that your children and family can’t afford. So instead of creating an opportunity where people feel good… They feel bad. And finally, when your supporters can’t afford to buy anything at the school holiday shop your school can’t raise the money it needs.
Will the vendors stand behind their merchandise?
What happens if an merchandise is damaged, doesn’t work or needs to be returned for any reason? What is their return policy? Did they stand behind their products? Make sure return policy is clearly printed on the receipt.
As you can see there are definite advantages and the disadvantages holding a local vendor school shop. Only you can decide if the benefits outweigh the risks.
Now let’s discuss your second option….
The holiday school shop.
Set up a school shop for the holidays
Imagine a school shop The children will love— and parents and grandparents would love even more.
Let us explain.
Our holiday school boutiques create a unique experience for young children in elementary schools. They provide a safe and secure environment for children in the lower school grades to buy gifts for the people they love and their family. Many younger school students want to give a holiday gift to their parents but are frustrated because they do not have the opportunity. Our child friendly school shops provide exactly what they are looking for… A safe place for kids to buy gift items just in time for the school holidays.
What will you do with the money you earn? You can use it for anything from purchasing school supplies or funding a school trip. It is entirely up to you.
Here are the pros of running a school shop with Schoolholidayshop.com
We think you will agree this can make your job easier.
Only one vendor to work with.
When you choose to work with Schoolholidayshop.com you only have one company to work with. This means you will save weeks and many dozens of our research, contacting and negotiating with vendors. What would you rather do, interview 20 vendors or just one vendor that does everything for you?
Reputation
There are many holiday shop companies to chose from. Why work with SHS? It is because elementary schools love our holiday school shop. That is why they call us year after year to schedule their school shop. What does that tell you? It means that our customers trust us to set up their holiday shop for them. Furthermore, it means they love the quality of the gifts we offer. Finally, you can read some of our reviews here.
Lack of space-No problem!
Whether you have a big space or very little space we have school shop solutions to help you. For schools that have the room you can use our Standard school shop program. We will send you all of the products for you to display and sell. You simply pay us for what you sell.
For schools with a limited space to have a holiday boutique we recommend our “Show n’ sell Shop. We will send you a complete set of gift samples to display. Children can pre-pay for their orders. Place your order and we will ship all of the merchandise to you!
Volunteers.
You only need a handful of volunteers to have a successful school holiday shop with us. Period now compare that to the dozens of helpers you will need to run a local vendor school shop. Additionally, you can reach out to the older and more responsible kids from the upper school student body to help out.
Affordable.
Our free school shot program has over 100 items anywhere from $.25 to $10 each. If $10 is too much you can try our five dollar economy shot. Every every gift is five dollars or less with the average price of $2.75 each. This means almost everyone can afford something.
Gifts kids want to buy.
These are not the typical items you would find in the dollar store. Instead each one is unique and special for everyone in the family. Imagine gifts just for mom or just for dad. Furthermore there are gifts design for grandmas and grandpas too!
We stand 100% behind our products.
We will have the school shop company is only as good as their product and customer service. Wouldn’t you agree? We want tickled moms, dads and grandparents. We want them to ask for the holiday school shop fundraiser next year too. So we stand 100% behind our products. If there’s a problem just let us know and we will make it right. Customer service is very important to us. See if yourself as you read some of these reviews.
Free extras you might easily forget!
When you work with us you get free gift bags, colorful tablecloth’s, product tent cards, posters and even a cash register app to make check out easy. We will even write a parent letter to get everyone excited about your school shop event.
It is profitable!
You are in control how much of a profit you want to make for the school. Some schools charge 10-20% to help offset expenses for their school curriculum. Other schools don’t add a profit at all. Instead they want to simply create an amazing experience for their students. This way the gifts are even more affordable to the children and their families.
Gift certificates:
Use email and cell phones to get the word out about your holiday gift store. Text, email and call grandma and grandpa. They can purchase gift certificates in the child’s name to be used like cash at the holiday store.
We invite you to a free school shop consultation
In conclusion, if you want to have an awesome holiday school shop then consider our free offer to you. SHS provides everything you need to create an unforgettable holiday experience for your school students and their families. I guess you can say SHS is a one stop shop. You don’t have to worry about a thing because we have done this so many times before. Our PTA members marvel how we remember all the details so you won’t have to!
If you want to request information then reach out to us.
- Take the time to read the many holiday shop articles on our website.
- Read the testimonials of happy customers that wanted to set up a school shop just like you do.
- Look at all of the beautiful gifts in our gallery. So can you imagine all of those excited little faces seeing them for the first time?
- Additionally check out our 4 easy steps to set up a holiday shop.
- Furthermore see for yourself all the free stuff you get when you work with us.
- Compare us to the competition.
- Got questions? They might be answered here already.
- Finally, learn about our happiness insurance. We are serious about you being delighted with our program.
We look forward to helping you setting up one of the best school holiday shops out there.
