Patrick Diamond, Reporter
@diamond_courant
If you have been to the school store this year, you may have seen the familiar faces of sophomores Sebastian Mauleon and Matt Krueger working behind the counter. What you did not see is the work that goes on behind the scenes of preparing for the day.
Seniors Alex Minaglia and James Orphanos, Vice Presidents of marketing, are in charge of spreading the word about the store. “We do marketing research, and then find sample prices,” James said. “After that, we go through the nutritional guidelines, and set prices based on the cost of the product.”
Another job that Alex and James have is spreading the word about the store. So far, they have done this through the announcements. “We are planning on making posters, and possibly something with NCTV,” James said.
The financial advisor, sophomore Evan Levinsky, also plays a role in running store. “We take account of how much money we are bringing in. We have to keep an active Excel spreadsheet, laying out month to month and day to day sales,” senior president Brian Macari said. “Also, when we make Costco runs, we have to account for those prices.”
To sell the product, the students must obtain it first. The store has to buy most of the inventory that they have at Costco. The kids in the period 6 class are planning on selling Hot Pockets, which is not carried at Costco, but they hope to buy them at a local grocery store. “We are very excited about this because we believe hot pockets will be a huge hit at NCHS,” junior Ben Durkin said.
The department of human resources (HR), run by senior Cheyenne Krueger, also has responsibilities in running the store. “Some of our jobs in HR include making sure an adult or parent is in the store everyday, scheduling students shifts according to their lunch schedules, and making sure all students attend their shifts,” Cheyenne said.
When students are working their shifts, they must be accompanied by a supervising adult. “Every business has a system of checks and balances when it comes to money,” teacher Linda Lombardo said. “You are minors after all, and there is no business in this world that doesn’t have ten different people looking every time money is transacted, and those are adults.”
Production keeps track of all the inventory that comes in and out, is one of the most key aspects of the store. The reason it is so important is because they have to physically count the inventory right down to the last product. Senior Kane Curtin, who has a big role in this department keeps track of the inventory and sets up the Costco runs for the store. “Kane keeps a spreadsheet of the inventory, and makes swre it matches to how much they sold,” Brian said.
Kane has to keep track of how much they made that week, and finds the average price they had to spend per item. He finds out whether or not they made a profit and he has to match all of this up with the financial statements. “It is definitely a hard job for Kane because if he makes a mistake, he has to start over again.” sophomore Sebastian said.
Students like Brian find that they have learned a lot over their time working for the store, learning to manage sales and the work ethics of business. “Sales are definitely not easy. In the beginning you’re not entirely sure how to do it,” Brian said. “A lot of the first year kids are a little nervous, but you learn how to do it. Common techniques include simply inquiring people if they want a snack or a drink.”
Learning to manage a business is just one thing you learn while working for the school store. Ms. Lombardo constructs the young careers of her students. “I prepare all the students for their futures in the business world. This class is only the start to their business careers,” she said.
