Tons of great ideas here...thanks! I am also looking for a good way to keep track of inventory / sales. We had our 1st santa shop last December and it was great...but I know we lost sales/items because we had no real way of keeping track of what we should have vs. what we really had.
I second that second! We used Kids Korner this last year...and already have contacted them to set our date for Dec 2008. Our Holiday shop is a service to our kids..it is not a fundraiser....but we did make money this year! Our goal was really just to break even....in past years the budget was seriously abused and we ended up not not only losing money, but with a closet full of product we have been trying to sell for 3yrs! What a headache! Using Kids Korner was so easy...it really simplified the whole process.
There are several ways to run a santa shop-- go online and type in santa's workshop and you will find several companies to choose from.
You can also purchase all the items yourself and sell them--- we do this and it works out great-- we sell everything for 5.00 and under and have great items that were originally 20-30.00 and bought at discounted and marked-down prices...
Check on sponsors of the pto expos and you'll find a few to start with.
We are a private Catholic school of about 180 students. We have a program called Spartan Bucks (our mascot is a spartan) where the kids earn 1 Spartan Bucks every time they are "caught" doing something good for someone else. Teachers, school staff, parents and other kids can give out the bucks. We do this for 2 weeks after Thanksgiving and then have a day set aside for the kids to shop with their bucks (which are papers similar to Monopoly money). They can earn an unlimited amount but can only spend up to 10 and must spend it on someone else, not themselves. The items they shop for are mostly donated, although if our supplies are low, we will go shopping at dollar stores, clearances sales, etc. We try to get things for moms, dads, siblings of all ages and anyone else a student might shop for. The kids love it and look forward to it every year.
I remember going to the Secret Santa Shop and purchasing very inexpensive gifts for all of my family when I was in elementary school and I saw that some schools offer these kinds of events still today but I can not find any information as to what kinds of items they sell. If anyone currently hold a Christmas store and would like to tell me how it works I would really like to implement this into our school next year. Do you sell donated items or does an outside company bring in items to sell? I am clueless as to how this event works. Any information would be greatly appreciated!
