Scotties Weekly Special....

On January 18th I went to my first DPO 

(DeLaura Parent Organization) meeting.

I had been feeling guilty for not being involved at Ethan's
school up to that point, so I decided to dive in and see what was what.

That night I met Ms. Shirley, their new principle.

I really like her.

(I love that I can take silent pictures with my camera 

while I pretend to text)

I like that I came in right when she did.

You can see DeLaura's mascot - a Scotty Dog.

Below that is this years new t-shirt design winner.

While at this meeting an opening came up that needed to be filled.
  One of the ladies was going back to work,

the lady that was the chair person over the school store.

They needed to find someone to take over for her.

ME.

I will do it.

Whooohooo!

Sweet job.

This is the school store -
"SCOTTIES SURF SHACK"

I loved it at first sight.  

Right away I saw some hidden potential that was going untapped.

I added the beef jerky the first week, we double our money 

back on those bad boys.  Raised the price on tic-tacs .25, we were barely breaking even.

We also sell PE uniforms at the store.

This is just a small sampling of our goods.

 This is the view in front of the store, the cute beach scene.
After waiting patiently for some time

I finally found an amazing sale on Altoids - .69/ reg. 1.99

I bought out our local Walgreens, we sell them for 1.50 per pack.
(most things are extremely cheap and an exceptional bargain for
the kids....the hot sellers (mints) can be a bit more)

You can see the drawing gift basket, all donated items from my couponing.

I made frequent shopper cards - for every 5 purchases of at least 1 dollar,

they get entered into the drawing.  For every 20 cards we will have 

another drawing.  We are at 10 cards right now.

I made prepaid cards as well, which are not selling - 

(for kids that don't like to carry cash)

they could purchase them in 

either $5 0r $10 dollar increments.

Here are some of the items I made up at Vista Print.

I was so excited with how it all turned out.

We have a weekly special that is a super hot deal every other week.

Sales are up by leaps and bounds.

I need to get the actual numbers to really prove it though.

I am working on that.

After I went to the school store and made my observations the first time I 

came up with a few recommendations and ideas.

They follow just for fun -

it is long......skip it if you want.....go to the end, which was the

catalyst for me writing about the store today in the first place.

Delaura School Store Improvement Ideas

I would like to propose a few ideas for our school store.  If I understand correctly the store is to used to help raise funds for the DPO....right now that does not seem to be very effective.  It looks to be almost pointless....$2 here, a whooping $6 another day...and that is not even all profit.  I really enjoyed getting trained and brought up to speed w/ Kristen Barry.  We got to brain storming and I think came up with some good ideas.  (I wish I was in person w/ you ladies.....this is certainly not as effective as a live presentation....oh well).  

1. I was really surprised that it was so dark in the room where the store was.  I asked about this, and why there was not a single kid hanging out on all those fun beach chairs, etc.  I was told the lights are never on, to save cost, and that the kids are not allowed to hang out in there, that it is for the faculty.  Really???  Really ridiculous.  Could we get permission to have the kids feel welcome for 45 minutes each day - 8:45 - 9:30?  and have the over head lights on?

2. Can we get permission to sell other items? - such as a wider assortment of mints....Altoids, Breath Savers, etc.? I know gum is not allowed.  What about other fun/cool/helpful items, such as mini hand sanitizers (like you can get at Bath and Body), w/ the little back pack holders, maybe mini mirrors to keep in your back pack for a quick teeth check after lunch, chap stick, nail files, lip gloss?  These are just ideas.  I love to bargain shop and am a huge couponer...I see steels and deals all the time I could snatch up for us.

3. There are several water bottles in there....are these to sell?

4. Last years Delaura t-shirts....what is the deal with these?  Can we sell them off at a steep discount just to move them out.....a buck a shirt???  What ever....Just something to move em out.

5. Could we take kid requests of what they would like to see in the store??  I know we cannot compete w/ the cafeteria....which means no snacks, beverage, food of any kind...correct?

6. My son is an 8th grader at the school, he had no idea there even was a school store until I became involved last week.  He made his first Mentos purchase today!  I propose we hook into the morning announcements.  Lets pump the kids up on the fact that there actually is a school store.  I can't tell you how many times my son asked me to get him graph paper.  THERE IS SOME IN THE SCHOOL STORE!!! Would have been great to know that for both of us.  I think it would be fun to run weekly specials....the deal of the week, first come first served basis.  We need to liquidate a bunch of yellow paper.....lets move it out.  We can stock up again when the back to school sales start up again for .10 cents a pack.  Some of that stuff looks like it has been in there forever.  

7. It seems like the signage around the store is pretty outdated....can we encourage the clubs and ourselves to update these so they are meaningful to even look at?  I would like to make a bigger, bolder poster w/ what the store has to offer to hang up....is that alright?  I will have it printed at vista print....what else could we use?  Maybe frequent shopper cards????  I think that could be really fun.  Could we do that??

8. My son suggested a raffle once a month....I hear that "raffles" are not allowed.....what about a Drawing of Chance????  for a suggested donation of $1 per ticket..or 10 for $5??  I could come up with the bulk of the basket....and add in some items from the store.  What do you think??

9. This is not an idea, rather a question - Who takes out the garbage....and keeps up the place?  is that me?

I hope I am not going over board, but I really feel that there is some untapped potential for that little store and we could be doing much more with it.  I would love to be present when you meet with the principle if you would like.

10.  One more idea I just thought of....what if we had students as "guest" clerks??....one of us would still be present to over see at all times, but heck yes friends would come shop from friends!!!  I think they would love that.  We could have interested parties put their name in at the school store, we would draw a name once a week and have it announced on the morning announcements. I love it! I would want to do it if I was a kid!

I am enjoying my little assignment.

I keep the store stocked.

Make the deposits when needed, and keep track of the cash 

sheets and different logs.

I do the calendar of volunteers each month, we are only open 

from 8:45 - 9:30 each day.

I fill in when needed when my clerks are sick or need a morning off

for any reason.

I am in charge of specials, pricing, and announcements.

The best part is interacting with the students and faculty.

I am getting my foot in the door, 

and seeing what is what at that school.

There are many regulars that stop by the store....

where in the world do they get their cash???

Today as I was signing out in the front office, I was filling out 

a note for our treasurer.  A few kids were checking in for being late.

The last girl I recognized.  

I have seen her around the neighborhood

many times.  She plays the drums, same as Ethan.

When I turned around to look at her I was shocked.

She looked horrendous.

She had a low scoop neck top on, her entire chest, neck, and arms 

looked like they had been beaten badly,

no wait, she has been in an accident,

no, her eyes, her mascarra, her makeup she was a wreck.

I was so flabbergasted trying to put it together.

 She did not look as I remembered her

bright and shiny, happy.

I kind of gasped, and said, oh my gosh,

I am so sorry, are you ok?

Oh my gosh, how horrible, wow....

Then I stopped.

The other moms in the room were quite.

She kind of pulled her shirt up a little and signed her late slip and went out.

Joan, the office manager said, um, you know those were all hickeys 

don't you?

It had dawned on me when I stopped and let the impossible 

take form in my mind.

It broke my heart so bad.

Who did this to her?

Was it just a funny game to them both?

Was she showing off today?

What mom would let her daughter set foot out of the house in such shape?

Does her mom even know?

Is she hurt?

Is her innocence gone forever?

Will she get her shiny brightness back?

There are so many questions in my mind.

She is no more than 14 years old.

Post Script - I asked Ethan if he saw this girl today in band.  He said yes,  I think she
was there why?  How did she look?  Did she have all of these red marks all over her?
No why?  You mean a rash?
No, like big blotches.....ok Hickies.
What are hickies?  What are you talking about?
Love you guy.
He said this girl I was talking about in his class looked perfectly fine.
So......I am trying to say this is not the girl from his band class after all.