We are very fortunate to have this woman who organizes and shops for the Santa Shop. She has done it for the past 3 years and each year outdoes herself. She shops all year long for it. Right after Christmas there is so much that is marked down very low and she keeps her eye out for it and starts then. She had Christmas ties (the kids loved for there fathers) for $1.00. Christmas mugs did well too. Most items she had this year were $3.00 or under! She even had cookie jars for only $3.50. Makeup and hair accessories for .50, Christmas boxed Hot Wheels for .25, everything was really cheep. One thing that we thought of was buying treats and food for Cats and Dogs then separating it into small Ziploc's and selling them for a quarter, they went Fast!
She goes to all sorts of places to find the deals, Odd Jobs, JoAnn Fabrics (they mark down to 90% off), K-Mart, Target and she gets what she can for the cheapest price possible. One thing she does have a problem finding is things for the men but she orders them from a wholesaler if needed just before the Santa Shop. Things like Dads Tool Sets and Granddads Mugs.
This woman is the best shopper I have ever met and she only marks up to the nearest 25 cent. Even if she pays 99 cent it goes to $1.00 because the ones that have a higher percentage cover any expense. We ask the parents to donate small boxes, tissue and brown bags and the children wrap them at home. My children love hiding in there room and wrapping there gifts!
Our school has used Kids Korner for the last 14 years. This year we decided to try Reindeer Lane. There things were nice and reasonable. Of course you had some tacky things the kids loved but we also had some things that were very nice and affordable. Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Grandma travel mugs flew off the shelves. With our 20% markup they were $4.50. Other popular things were an angel pins $1.00, angel glass ornament $3.50, Mom Dad Grandpa Grandma highlighters $1.25, stuffed bear (really cute) $5.25, gel candles $3.25, a small flower pot (very cute for a candle) $1.25, snowman bells and lots more. Alot of parents came in and said how great it was compared to the previous years. There was actual jewelry they could wear. Things ranged from $.15 to $11.25. We sent in about $1200. more than previous years also. The only thing I did not like was the next day shipping for reorders. It was sent airborne express and did not arrive until 2 pm. School is out at 2:30 so it was really not next day for us. Even that would of been okay if our shop was longer than 4 1/2 days. Customer service was great too. We only had 3 boxes to send back (out of 15) and they sent ups, we faxed over a check and was done. All gift bags, plastic bags, fliers, posters and money envelopes were provided also. So overall it was nice. Boxes were marked and we easily setup our tables by price. That made it much easier to help the kids with only $.50 or so. I would recommend Reindeer Lane.
Your shop sounds a lot like ours this year - we sold out of all the great stuff - I had to go back to 6 different Wal-Marts to resupply the shop.
Our best items were these boxed and decorated bath and beauty sets ($3) from Wal-mart, Dad Money clips ($1.50) from the wholesaler and full-size basketballs ($3.50) for the kids.
Also, we were provided a full skid of dinnerware sets for $1/place setting to offer to the families at cost, provided they purchased a book for their child. They were able to get 8 settings plus a book for $10. We then gave away the remaining sets to needy families.
I've not seen any Holiday Shops that offered merchandise that was worth the overly high prices they charge. We've tried several now and I hope we never do it again. This year we did away with the Holiday Shop although, but last year we did a combination of using a company and buying stuff ourselves at a local warehouse and the stuff we bought sold out while the company stuff showed up broken, had to be inventoried twice and hardly sold.
We bought jump ropes, stuffed animals, balls, mini backpacks and other toys for kids, flashlights, tool kits, mugs, dartboards, etc for men, picture frames, mugs, candles, plaques, etc for Moms and other women, and even some wreathes and decorations that the teachers and parents bought; we even sold all of the decorations we used in the shop!
One of best sellers was reindeer antlers that sold for $1. We had cases of them and still ran out. Everybody loved them!
Having just finished up our "Holiday Shop" for the year, and writing up my impressions of same, I was wondering what the best and worst of your santa shops could be - Post your winners (losers), as I am actually starting to think about early planning for next year's shop now, while everything is still fresh in my mind.
If you used a company, how did it go? did you like it?
If you did it yourself (we did), what really flew off the tables, and didn't? If you have any happy or horror stories - share 'em!
Thanks in advance for your thoughts, and I am totally willing to share any of my notes from our shop with you - email me!!
