The Whitman-Hanson Regional High School store has been open on Thursday evenings throughout the month of December from 6 to 8 p.m. The Panther’s Den is also opened during the school day from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

By opening on Thursday nights during the holiday season, the goal is to drawn in the parents who may otherwise not have been able to come in during the day because of work.

Business teacher Nina Consolini said that many of the older students have parents that know about the school store, but she feels that some of the freshman parents are unaware of what it has to offer.

The store offers a variety of apparel and merchandise. Students can also order balloons and have them delivered on special occasions. Balloons are latex-free as an allergy precaution.

“We sell a lot of Whitman-Hanson spirit items,” Consolini said.

Every year the store offers something new. All the spirit items are designed by retail and graphic design students.

Consolini called the Panther’s Den “a learning store,” because students have to understand all aspects of retail ranging from selecting the merchandise to knowing how the store is run.

Students have a hand in how the holiday merchandise is promoted. The school has found it difficult to reach parents, but they have taken steps to promote the store on the education channel and also the district Web site.

After the merchandise is designed, students are responsible for figuring out a pricing structure, the quantity to order and managing the store.

“Once the students determine what items we need, we take a look at the sales history of the previous year to determine the quantity to order,” Consolini said.

Students learn about how to mark up merchandise to ensure they bring in a profit. Proceeds from the school store help fund DECA conferences and also buy more merchandise, Consolini said.

“Although we do mark up the prices, we are still significantly less than other retailers,” she added.

Last year a long sleeve charcoal color T-shirt with plaid lettering was popular. Since the students seem to like the T-shirts, a sweatshirt was made with plaid lettering. Another sweatshirt was designed to have the word Panthers written with a shadow and a red paw print scratching through the wording.

Consolini said that being able to offer a variety of sweatshirts is good, because it seems to be the trend among high school students.

Store merchandise is generated by local vendors. The main vendors are Walker-Clay in Hanson and Time Out Sports in Whitman.

“It is very exciting for the students to work on designs on the computer, send them out to the printer and have them comeback on clothing,” Consolini said.

Senior Rachel Pellegrine designed the long sleeve T-shirt with the plaid lettering which led to the sweatshirt design this year.

“Every time someone comes into the store and says I like that shirt, I say I designed it,” Pellegrine said.

Pellegrine said her marketing class helped her with the work she does with the store. She also said she learned a great deal from Retailing and Marketing II.

“The teacher isn’t the one who decides what we will sell, we get to go out and get the opinions from other students,” she said. “The kids are going to be the ones that buy the clothes and wear them.”

This year’s sweatpants were designed to have a red paw on the hip with the letters WH. The store also has black and white flannel pajama pants with scattered paw prints.

Other items include Panther car magnets, hats, umbrellas, travel mugs, tote bags, sling bags, pens and stationary.

“By supporting the school store you are supporting the retail class, our DECA program and the local vendors,” Consolini said.