How To Organize an a Holiday Gift Boutique For School

How To Organize an a Holiday Gift Boutique For School

The best part about the holidays are spending time with family, spreading joy , love and feeling grateful for all of the wonderful people in our lives. At a School holiday Boutique we want to make your life easier by giving children a safe place to shop , supervised at school while sticking to a budget. Most school’s holiday shops are more than just a place for children to get gifts for loved ones—they’re a time honored tradition. In- School holiday gift shops are Fun and easy & the kids love them. Organize it as a fundraiser and mark up the items anywhere from 10% , 20% or more, what ever you decide your school needs. School gift shop ideas have been a large part of the elementary school student experience for decades.

Use our free guide on how to organize a PTA or PTO holiday shop it’s packed with information for planning a organized event that will show your students the joy of giving during the holiday season.

What Is a In-School Holiday Gift Shop ?

School holiday shops provide students the opportunity to shop for a variety of gifts (for Mom, Dad, siblings, grandparents, and even their pets) “Secretly” during the school day so the gift is a fun surprise! The PTOs and PTAs typically organize these events in a school library, gym, or other location. Volunteers help students choose gifts and buy gifts in their budgets. It’s the enjoyment of helping children and seeing their delight in choosing special gifts that largely accounts for why parent groups do them. Our Company specializes in school holiday shops supplies and gifts, we provide detailed help on running school gift shops, take back unsold items, and pay for the cost of shipping !As a courtesy to schools our merchandise is always on consignment—no need to send money until the shop is over, and your school only pays for what is sold. Parent groups are free to mark up the items or keep them low priced for the children. We will send an information packet with tips for a successful event as well as promotional materials. The event usually lasts about 4 days. Students visit the shop in small groups during assigned periods. Frequently, gifts are wrapped or placed in gift bags so students can take them home without spoiling the surprise.

How to Stay Organized During Your School Holiday Gift Shop

A in- School Holiday gift shop can be easy to organize when you leave most of the inventory details up to us. We book Holiday Gift Shop events all year round but Christmas is our busiest time of year! Your school can book as late December, but the sooner you book the better. We offer incentives to schools that Sign up early , right now your school can get a Free 55 inch HDTV. (restrictions may apply- call for info)

Volunteers

Make sure you have enough volunteers from Start to Finish. You’ll need as many volunteers working together as you can get , especially if your shop is large. You should appoint someone as the volunteer coordinator, not only to coordinate and schedule volunteers but also to walk them through their roles and help cover breaks during the holiday shop.

Here’s a typical breakdown of volunteer roles:

• 2 volunteers per table of Gift items • 1 or 2 budget helpers • 1 to 3 general room monitors • 1 or 2 cashiers • (optional) 2 at the Wrapping Station

Most holiday shops run for 3-4 days, so you’ll want to decide the length of shifts volunteers should sign up for.

Make your Holiday Shop event enjoyable for all, volunteers included. Holiday music makes people feel festive, decorate your event beautifully to awaken all the senses. Light refreshments are always nice , water, coffee, eggnog (cookies) . Try to make them feel special as possible for taking time out to help & let them know how grateful you are they are there.

Supplies

A School holiday Boutique will provide your school with Budget envelopes, decorated tablecloths and posters, Gift bags ,Cash register and cash register App, Coded merchandise, and plastic carry home bags. You may want to have plenty of Pens, pencils, staplers, scissors, and tape.

Teachers

Communicate with teachers about how the shop will work and coordinate the best times for their students to go. Some other ways they may be involved include: • helping raise overall awareness of the event • sending reminder emails to their classroom parent lists or Flyer • collecting volunteer forms and passing them to the PTO volunteer coordinator

Don’t forget to Thank the teacher’s for their help by letting them know they can stop by the Holiday Shop event for a light refreshment for being so great.

Our Gifts We offer top quality gifts that are affordable and popular. Call us and ask if you would like to see a catalog showing what gifts you can order or visit www. schoolholidayboutique.com We have plenty of specific and matching gifts for moms, dads, sister, brother and grandparents with a matching motif for a specific person, such as a mug, keychain, and bag.

Cash Register App

DOWNLOAD: Available at the APP STORE under, a School holiday Boutique cash register (Apple & Android)

Once logged in, you will first hit the Settings key (on bottom). You will be instructed to select a profit mark-up 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% (if interested in making a profit from your sale), then hit save, then hit “back” (top left)

CUSTOMIZE YOUR PRICING: (OPTIONAL)

• Go to settings (on bottom) • Select “custom” (on top) • You will need to press each code button (1-22) individually to set-up your prices. • Please refer to our code sheet for suggested pricing.

*** EXAMPLE – Press #1 (Add custom mark-up box will appear), and type in your desired price. (for example 11.00) then press enter and continue this process for 2-22 with your desired price increase for each.

*** CHANGE EACH DESIRED KEY INDIVIDUALLY, OR ITEMS WILL CHARGE ACCORDING TO OUR CODE SHEET.

CHECKING OUT STUDENTS: • Every time you press a code button, which is associated with a certain DOLLAR AMOUNT, a red square will appear indicating the number of items the child purchased for that price during the entire transaction.

• Once you are finished entering all the purchased items, look to the top of the screen to see the total amount due. • Press TOTAL then enter the amount tendered (without $ sign), then the change due will appear. • Then DONE (red button). • Screen will reset to zero, and now you are ready to enter the next child’s purchases.

DAILY REPORTS:

• Press REPORT then scroll up and down for full report.(You will see the DATE, CODE #, QUANTITY, PRICE AND TOTAL SALES). • TO SAVE: to save a copy of the report, SCREEN SHOT IT, then either UPLOAD or EMAIL it through your photo album to a computer, or text it to a number. When finished press CLEAR.

We also offer a regular Cash Register , call and we will figure out the best plan that works for your school.

Gift Wrapping Station- (optional)

The amount of supplies you need is dependent on the space, the number and size of tables and the number of volunteers you have available. Your gift wrap supply should include: – Tape dispensers for each volunteer, extra tape – Scissors for each volunteer – A variety of wrapping paper for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa; don’t forget to have some Birthday and also generic wrapping paper available – Gift boxes and bags – Ribbon – Accessories – Gift bags for oddly shaped gifts – Tissue paper – Gift tags – Markers or pens

Holiday Shop Success Tips

Plan enough time for your shop

3 to 4 days is the ideal length for a in school holiday gift shop to ensure all classes enjoy the event.

Be Creative and Create an Appealing display

Arranging the tables in simple L-shape or U-shape will allow for a good flow of students. The best approach is to place display items on the table and keep the rest of your stock behind it. When students choose to buy an item, a volunteer can pull one from boxes placed on the floor or on a table behind them.

Run your Gift shop near other activities

Is there a holiday breakfast or student performances? If so you might have to stay open a little longer but it can give kids (and possibly siblings who don’t attend your school) an extra chance to buy gifts.

Help kids stay within their budget

Most students will come with somewhere between $5 and $20, and some will expect to buy a number of gifts with that amount. We provide budget envelopes to help children plan.

Planning Timeline and Tips for Promoting Your Holiday Shop

4 to 5 weeks before your holiday shop

• Decide the name of your holiday shop.

• Hang posters in the teachers lounge and other prominent areas of the school ,bulletin board, hallways, and classrooms.

• Send an announcement email and a volunteer sign-up sheet.

• Use holiday shop clip art graphics to highlight a mention of the event in your newsletter (paper or online).

• Promote the event on your Facebook page with a call for volunteers and “save the date” graphics.

2 to 3 weeks before the event

• Send a holiday shop event flyer home with the students, and include volunteer sign-up information again—chances are you will still be looking for volunteers. (Flyers are organized by theme in the forms and tools section below.)

• Coordinate with the office about the daily schedule to determine which classes will go to the holiday shop each day.

1 week before the event

• Ask the principal or administrative staff to mention the holiday shop during morning announcements for several days leading up to the event