Hole in the Wall one-man gang – Thanks to Hellgate senior Braxton Giffin, DECA store reopens

The hole in the wall in now, officially, the Hole in the Wall.

Hellgate High School’s DECA students opened the school’s first store in 10 years Wednesday in what had been an old storage closed, and, in an even earlier life, a ticket booth.

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DECA http://www.deca.org/

Today 170,000 marketing students, 4,500 marketing teachers, and 14,000 postsecondary Delta Epsilon Chi members enjoy the benefits of membership in DECA, the association for students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship

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By Vince Devlin of the Missoulian

At approximately 56 square feet and open less than 90 minutes a day, the Hole in the Wall isn’t likely to take too much business away from Wal-Mart or Costco.

But it will help fund trips for the DECA members and provide hands-on experience for business classes at Hellgate.

Getting the store up and running has been Braxton Giffin’s senior project.

“What happened is our principal, Jane Bennett, challenged the staff,” said Beth Huguet, Giffin’s adviser. Bennett said not only students, but departments as well, should undertake a “senior project” that would enhance classes or incorporate something new into the curriculum.

The business department, Huguet said, opted for a school store. Both Sentinel and Big Sky high schools have them, and use the profits to help send their DECA members to the state convention.

“Our kids have had to raise their own money to go,” Huguet said.

Her accounting classes will produce balance sheets and income statements for the Hole in the Wall – much better, she said, than working on textbook versions of the same thing.

With the help of Huguet and his senior project mentor, Beth Cole of the College of Technology, Giffin began last fall.

“He basically took the closet and gutted it,” Huguet said.

Giffin found everything from typewriter manuals form the 1970’s to a 1963 “business simulator” for JCPenney.

“It was kind of like an old board game,” Giffin said. “We looked at it, but couldn’t really figure it out.”

He cleaned, then painted the room. He tore out the old shelves and installed new ones.

The one-time ticket booth had a small opening, but the 2-foot by 4-foot window wouldn’t work for a store. Giffin applied for grants to help with the biggest cost to convert the closet into a retail outlet: $4,000 to install a large opening in the wall to the hallway, and put in a counter.

That work, to create a hole in the wall, was done over Christmas vacation.

Installation of a sliding door to cover the opening had to wait for spring break.

Meantime, DECA students held a contest to name the store, and Giffin surveyed Hellgate students to find out what products they’d like to see that aren’t already available in vending machines in the school.

“DECA makes the money of the vending machines, so it didn’t make sense” to duplicate the snacks and candy bars offered in the machines, Giffin said.

So the store sells candy not available in the vending machines, such as Skittles, Dots and Rolos, plus Nutri Grain products, Oreo snacks, corn nuts and beef jerky.

There are school supplies on the shelves.

And – in a shrewd business move – the Hole in the Wall offers Coca Cola products.

Pepsi has an exclusive contract with Missoula County Public Schools, and only Pepsi products are for sale in vending machines on school grounds.

“We researched the contract, and found that it doesn’t affect school clubs,” Giffin said. “We found a little loophole.”

Now students have a choice: Coke or Pepsi. There are also fruit juices and bottled water for sale at the Hole in the Wall.

Aside from giving his report on his project next week, Giffin’s role in the store is done. Underclassmen who can benefit next school year from profits generated will work the store, which is open 20 minutes before and after school, plus the lunch period.