Every weekday morning, freshman Chelcie Davis unlocks the door to room E208 and walks into a small office space filled with shelves carrying various items. After surveying the room, Davis pushes the door wide open, and students begin to funnel in to purchase desired products. Displayed on the window next to the door is a logo that reads, “Knights’ Armory, established 2012.”
The Grady Armory, a school store founded on Jan. 13, sells snacks, supplies and school clothing to students every school day. It is open from 8 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and from 3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Business and entrepreneurship academy leader Willie Vincent said principal Vincent Murray wanted the academy to create a school store as early as 2009. Vincent worked to secure a location for the store last year, but it was not until last semester, when the special education office moved, that Vincent saw the perfect location to launch the store.
With the site secured, students in Marlon Pilson’s business essentials class worked to create a business centered around the school store. Students organized themselves into four departments: human resource, finance, marketing and inventory. By Dec. 15, the store was filled with shelves, and the shelves were filled with products.
“During the process, certain students stood out and embraced the idea of a school store,” Pilson said. “I began to push them to develop the school store mainly because they had the passion.”
One such student who expressed passion was Davis, who is CEO of the store.
Davis said the store is mostly occupied and run by students, and Pilson’s role is simply to approve the plans proposed by students.
“Basically, we come up with everything,” Davis said. “We come up with the plans that we use, the charts, the flyers, the logo, everything.”
Vincent described the store as 100 percent student-run.
“I took a back seat,” he said. “All the initial setup was student-done.”
Vincent said students prepared for the store by developing surveys and contracts.
“In contract negotiation, there was one phase where [students] were trying to procure a loan for the initial startup of the school store,” Vincent said. “So a team of students went to meet with Dr. Murray, and they presented their data and asked for a loan from the school.”
Murray couldn’t loan taxpayer money, but making the proposal gave the students valuable experience, Vincent said.
Davis agreed that the process is educational.
“We all benefit in becoming a future entrepreneur and learning how a real business is run,” Davis said. She plans to design her own fashion line as an entrepreneur.
Pilson said students have learned several business skills, such as public-relations, financial and marketing skills.
“The school store opens students up to being business vendors and entrepreneurs and teaches them the day-to-day activities of what a business is like to run,” Pilson said.
Vincent has worked to get the whole school on board with the store. Vincent has approached teachers, such as graphic arts teacher Paul Nicolson, fashion design teacher Vincent Martinez and art teacher John Brandhorst as well as the athletic department and booster club, in order to obtain additional products to sell in the store.
“I love the coalescing of programs,” Vincent said. “It becomes a community endeavor, and that’s what makes it really exciting.”
In addition, the school store invites other students who design their own products to use the store as a means of selling their creations.
Although the purpose of the store is not for profit, Pilson said that, as in all businesses, finance is an important aspect of the store. In order to identify any profit, students take inventory of the products sold every day.
Pilson expects substantial profit for the store in the next three to five years and plans to use this profit on business competitions, workshops and training for students.
