Surveys were mailed to
1,570 DECA advisors who operate school-based enterprises.
The responses to the survey's questions are summarized
below.
1. Which of the following best describes the type
of school-based enterprise (school store) operated by
your chapter?
70% – General merchandise (including snacks)
5% – Restaurant/Food service
1% – Credit Union/Bank
5% – Vending
12% – Concessions
7% – Other: (please specify) –
School supplies, books, balloons, cookies, clothing, screen
printing, t-shirts, spirit items, candy, coffee, seasonal
items, supermarket items, mini-mart, espresso cart
2. What product lines are carried in your school
store?
85% – Food/snacks
65% – Drinks
76% – School supplies
61% – Clothing/Fashion Wear/Accessories
35% – School ID Items
21% – Other: (please specify) School
spirit items, greeting cards, balloons, health and beauty
aids, stuffed animal, prepaid credit cards, posters, CD's,
gift items, jewelry, collectibles, savings and loan, homemade
consignment items, computer items, magazines, newspapers,
safety items, parking permits, teacher request items,
flowers, cookies, senior class items, seasonal items,
candles, groceries, uniforms, espresso, locks, athletic
equipment
3. Which of the following best describes the size
of your school store?
32% – Smaller than 100 sq. ft.
17% – Between 120-150 sq. ft.
14% – Between 150-200 sq. ft.
37% – Larger than 200 sq. ft.
4. Do you operate more than one store location?
10% Yes
90% No
5. What best describes the sales volume for your
school store for the past year?
38% – Less than $10,000
26% – Between $10,000$25,000
20% – Between $25,000$50,000
12% – Between $50,000$100,000
4% – Greater than $100,000
6. Rate the following needs regarding the operation
of your school store
(1 being the highest).
- 1 – Accounting practices
- 2 – Curriculum resources
- 3 – Identification of vendors
- 4 – Justify operation to administration
- Other needs included inventory control,
advertising and promotion resources, operational procedures,
vendor service, supervision, federal regulations regarding
sale of food, security, time, student motivation, equipment
and supplies, online cash register system, space, facilities
and fixtures
7. Are you interested being part of a DECA network
that will assist in school store operations?
91% Yes
9% No
8. What are your hours of operation?
(Answers listed below were most frequent responses and
are in order beginning with most frequent answer.)
- Before/after school
- Break times during school day
- During lunch
- Entire school dayss
- Class change times between each period
9. How many people does your school store employ?
(Answers listed below were most frequent responses and
are in order beginning with most frequent answer.)
- All ME students/DECA members on rotating basis
- No paid employees (students work for grade)
- No paid employees (students volunteer)
- Few schools have paid employees
- Number of employees varies between 1-40 with 2 the most
common number working at one time
10. How could you improve your school store operation?
(Answers listed below were most frequent responses and
are in order beginning with most frequent answer.)
- Larger facility/more space
- Better location
- Offer more products/better variety
- Better hours of operation
- Be allowed to sell food items
- Incentives/motivation for student workers
- Higher sales
- Curriculum/better tie to ME curriculum
- Record keeping
- Add technology (scanners, computerized inventory, security
cameras, etc.)
- Equipment/fixtures
- Better employee training
- POS systems
- Improve advertising and displays
- Additional vendors
11. What are the challenges you would face when
trying to make these improvements? (Answers
listed below were most frequent responses and are in order
beginning with most frequent answer.)
- Limited space at school
- Time
- Money
- Vendors/vendor minimums
- Motivation
- Student accountability
- Administrative support
- School policies
- Physical plant issues
- Federal Laws regarding lunch program
- Supervision
12. How do you use the school store for training
purposes? (Answers listed below were most
frequent responses and are in order beginning with most
frequent answer.)
- Students learn all operating procedures including money
handling, inventory, buying, pricing, stocking, customer
service, selling, record keeping, promotion, accounting
and display. School store also reinforces math skills,
employability skills and problem solving skills.
- Performance is a part of the students' grade.
- All students operate store on a rotating schedule.
13. Would you like to add merchandise lines to
your store?
76% Yes
24% No
If yes, what lines? Healthier products,
better variety, specialty items, computer software, drinks,
novelty and gift items, seasonal items, food items, spirit
items, snacks, bottled water, NASCAR sportswear, flowers,
school supplies, chips, senior class items, phone cards,
discount movie tickets, clothing, beauty aids, CD's cards,
and dairy products.
14. If you do not sell food/snacks, why not? (Answers
listed below were most frequent responses and are in order
beginning with most frequent answer.)
- Laws/regulations regarding federal lunch program
- Administration will not allow; school policy
- Cannot get adequate vendor service
- Takes vending money away from administration
15. Who are your top vendors? (Answers
listed below were most frequent responses and are in order
beginning with most frequent answer.)
1. Frito-Lay, Inc.
2. Pepsico
3. Otis Spunkmeyer
4. Sam's Wholesale
5. Coca-Cola USA
6. Local vendors/wholesalers
7. Paragon foods
8. Toms
9. Lance
10. Office Depot
11. Treplo
12. Costco
13. Klosterman's
14. Snapple
15. Hostess
16. Champion
17. Little Debbie
18. Kathryn Beich
19. Dr Pepper
20. Totem Foods
16. How do you get products to your store?
(Answers listed below were most frequent responses and
are in order beginning with most frequent answer.)
- Delivered and/or shipped
- Some delivered and some picked up
- Pick-up
17. How do you measure your school store's performance?
(Answers listed below were most frequent responses
and are in order beginning with most frequent answer.)
- Profit and/or sales
- Student performance
- Customer satisfaction
- Comparison with previous year
- How well profits finance our year's DECA activities
31% – Return rate
1,570 – Long surveys mailed
481 – Long surveys returned. |
