Made in SMSD: SMSD opened a store at Oak Park Mall, showcasing student businesses

SMSD officially launched a window display called Real World Learning at Oak Park Mall on Nov. 29 to support and showcase student-run businesses so they can grow profits and establish themselves in the business world.

Located outside JC Penney on the first level of the mall, the store features two display windows which currently exhibit merchandise from nine SM West student businesses — they plan to include businesses from other SMSD high schools as the year progresses. Additionally, there’s a QR code hung up between the two windows that shoppers can scan to visit a website highlighting the student businesses where they can donate or buy products from.

“We are changing the way we view education,” SM West business teacher Tiffany Dixon said. “It’s not just a handful of kids, it’s any kid that is saying, ‘I want to start a business, I want to try this.’ They should have that support, right? So that’s what we’re here for.”

The idea for the store originated in Dixon’s classroom where she created a website featuring all of her students’ businesses. Dixon wanted a physical display of her students’ work, so she reached out to SMSD’s Business Education Coordinator Laura Harsch, who connects with businesses to give students work experience opportunities, to create the physical setup for their entrepreneurial projects. 

The original idea from Harsh was a shelf or kiosk space, but when she called Oak Park Mall’s Senior General Manager Carla Engel, she proposed the window display in an empty space that was available. 

The businesses featured will be rotated quarterly as new student entrepreneurs have finished setting up their business and are ready to open it up to the public with sample products. As an entrepreneur in the technology field and a teacher, Dixon sees the storefront as a real-world approach to education.

“In the same way that young people can go out and apply for work, you can start your own business and experience what it’s like to do something on your own, to venture out, to take some risks and it doesn’t break your bank,” Dixon said.

While beneficial to the students, Engel also saw this as a win for the mall as it provides something innovative for their shoppers and brings a virtual shopping experience to a physical store — something Oak Park Mall has been trying to incorporate with online retailers doing pop-ups and national retailers struggling to get the staffing to run an in-person store.

“I thought it would be a really interesting venture and something new that hasn’t been done before, and supporting the school district was a definite bonus and being able to build that partnership,” Engel said.

In terms of affording the space, Oak Park Mall is paying for a majority of the shop lease using funds from their budget for up and coming entrepreneurs that goes toward helping new businesses with merchandising or refurbishing a space. The mall also assisted SMSD by lending them mannequins, backdrops and other accessories like plants and furniture seen in the display window.

“The student products are really what’s on display and that’s what we wanted to feature, so everything else, we hope, fades into the background a little bit but sets a scenario for the products so people can see them and envision it in their home,” Engel said.

To SM West sophomore Logan Bennett and senior Jayla Powell, it was surreal to see people viewing their work in a professional display at Oak Park Mall. While Bennett and Powell haven’t officially launched the sites for their businesses, they see the shop as a good way to get their brands’ names out there. Both crafted their apparel and retail brands in Dixon’s business class, using resources like Wix and Adobe Photoshop to bring their visions to fruition.

“[Dixon’s] helped us learn all these really helpful websites and tools to create our own websites and brands,” Bennett said. “She’s been really supportive and helpful outside the classroom.”

Unlike Bennett and Powell, SM West senior Aidan Hall has had his business, KC Homemade, for four years, selling 200-300 of his most popular item — a shirt with a vintage-looking football and skyline of Kansas City, Missouri — in the past year alone. The shop is a chance for him to further expand his market. 

“All the hard work Ms. Dixon’s put into it is cool to see it all pay off and for me it’s cool to see my stuff on display,” Hall said. “I even had friends who were here this weekend shopping and they were telling me how they saw my stuff up so it’s cool to see how it’s reaching people.”

Hall’s initial entrepreneurial start of duct tape wallets has transformed into him buying his own Die Cut machine to make his merchandise. Now, he hopes to continue expanding and make a career out of his business — maybe even open his own storefront someday.

“There is no age limit to being an entrepreneur,” Dixon said. “Technology is making it so that young people can become business owners immediately.”

While SM West students are the only entrepreneurial students featured as of right now, they plan to open it up to more students across the district next semester. Business teacher Jennifer Hair sees the store as an opportunity for East entrepreneurs to reach beyond the market of The Village and Corinth Square and expand their market outside of the East district — something junior Evyn Roberts, who owns her own business making custom prints and collages, is open. 

“When you’re a small, little business it’s really hard to get people to know about your stuff,” Roberts said. “Whenever I make people things I always put a little note, I’m like, “If you could put this on your social media or something or mention it to someone or put a picture somewhere that would be really cool.’ People don’t do it a lot of the time or forget, so it’s really cool that they’re [opening a storefront] because it’s always hard to get people to see your stuff.”

The storefront will be open through May and then Dixon, Engel and Harsch will reevaluate based on the storefront’s success as to if it will continue next school year. 

Going forward, Harsch and Dixon hope this partnership will lead to other pop-ups in the SMSD area to showcase more student work. 

“Imagine what it would be like if second graders were pitching their ideas and talking about mowing yards or lemonade stands or whatever it is they want to do because they can,” Dixon said. “It makes education much more of a cool experience.”