Ever wondered where students and faculty get all of their Chamblee Charter High School apparel from? Many have T-shirts and sweatshirts from their sports team or clubs. Now, right here in Chamblee’s building, there’s a new place to shop for all of your Chamblee merchandise.
The school store, located in Room 1143, right across from the cafeteria, opened in March 2018 and contains a wide selection of school gear, including T-shirts, hoodies, magnets, pencils, and pens.
“We have a lot of cool stuff in here,” said Barbara Moore, affectionately called “Grandma,” a volunteer worker in the store and important member of the Chamblee community.
Currently, the school store is managed by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Assistant Principal Clifton Spears says, however, that this will hopefully change.
“Right now it’s sponsored by the PTA, but once they get enough funds, the school will want to take it over,” said Spears.
Providing merchandise for students wasn’t the only motive for the creation of the store, however. Spears and his fellow administrators are actually looking to create a coffee shop inside Chamblee’s main building.
“Lots of students like to go to Chick-Fil-A and other places to get food and drinks, and we want to get some things in here that the students like,” said Spears.
Plans for this coffee shop aren’t completely solidified, as the administration is not even sure where exactly they’d put the shop.
“It’s a work in progress,” said Spears. “It’ll be something we’ll work on over the summer.”
Despite the funds provided from the school store, the school will probably need a company to sponsor some of the coffee machines and provide drinks and food, according to Spears. He has been investigating companies and local businesses who might be willing to do this.
The creation of a coffee shop would also require people to work in the shop, a job that Spears says could be available to students.
“We’d really like for students to work in the shop,” said Spears. “So over the summer, we’d need to do some training for students for that as well.”
While the plan for the coffee shop formulates and becomes more coherent, the school store will continue to operate on Thursdays and Fridays in Room 1143.
So far, the store has seen some activity, and makes about 80 to 100 dollars a week, but awareness that the store even exists is limited.
“I didn’t even know we had a school store,” said junior Ryan Cass. “I think most people probably don’t know about it, but it sounds pretty cool.”
Moore, who works in the store on Thursdays, expresses a similar viewpoint.
“I’ve had some students come in here to buy things, but not a lot,” said Moore. “I think once we get going a little, more students will come visit the store.”
Although the store hasn’t attracted much attention, Spears is not worried that this will affect plans for the coffee shop.
In the meantime, you can meet all of your Chamblee gear needs at the school store. Visit Room 1143 and buy your Chamblee apparel, and “Grandma” may have a treat for you:
“People who come here on Thursdays and buy something from the store while I’m here have a special advantage, because I have Scooby Snacks for them,” said Moore.
