What’s school retail? Most people don’t think of schools as a business but attend a local school sporting event, and you will find staff and students selling snacks and school merchandise, from branded apparel to tchotchkes. These sales are intended to help students and families display their school spirit and boost funding for the school or the district.

In truth, there are many challenges associated with in-school retail operations, most notably figuring out the logistics of creating a retail space. While some schools have space set aside for a full-time store or at least a permanent location on campus, many schools have to find temporary spaces in which to sell merchandise. How can you create the best possible atmosphere for selling retail merchandise in a school? Here are a few tips.

Outfitting a Full-Time Store for School Retail

If you have the luxury of operating a full-time store, you can set up relatively permanent displays and offer a wide variety of goods, from branded merchandise displaying the school logo to school supplies, snacks, and even toys – whatever you think students, parents, and faculty might want. Of course, you have to keep in mind that your main customers may be children.

This will influence the items you sell and how you price them. You can’t forget practical concerns like the scale and placement of displays and signage. Many of your customers are likely to be significantly smaller than adult size. You have to set displays at their eye level and ensure signage is visible.

You may want to display a menu board with pricing to avoid confusion. Since you’re likely to be dealing with mostly cash transactions, make sure your POS is suited to the task and that you’re able to produce receipts for every sale to check against the cash drawer.

Planning for Limited-Use Locations

Suppose you don’t have a dedicated space available for your school store. You may have to contend with setting up temporary displays during set hours near the office, in the cafeteria, outside the gym, or on the field during sporting events and pep rallies, just for example.

This will require you to create portable merchandise displays that are compact and easy to store, pack, and transport. This is understandably limiting, but with some creativity, you can get the job done. Lightweight foldout tables and wheeled racks are great display options that add convenience to your operation.

Splitting Merchandise

Even if you have a dedicated store in the school, you may also want to take advantage of mobile merchandising opportunities at sporting events, plays, music recitals, and more. In this case, think about setting up your most popular wares on portable displays so they can easily move in and out of the store. Portable POS systems will also come in handy.

If you are interested in purchasing Fixtures and Displays, shop our website, Specialty Store Services, for all your Retail Store needs.  If you have a question that you would like answered immediately, you can Live Chat or phone us at 800-999-0771.

Updated on September 9, 2022.