We have been doing Santa Shop for about 10 years, and love it! Lots and lots of work, so my hat goes off to you and your co-chair!

My advice: We use a local company to consign "some" gifts and supplies. We purchase about 75% of our items ourselves, but having the extra items helps relieve our stress levels a lot (what if we don't have enough gifts, what if we don't have enough "guy" items, etc.) We try to sell our stuff first, and the consigned stuff goes back to the company and it's no skin off our backs. As part of doing business with the company, they supply us bags for each gift and also envelopes for each child. The envelopes say "Money Envelope" and have Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Grandma, Other, etc. with a line next to each. The parents put the amount they want their child to spend next to each family member and the total cash/check inside the envelope.

The children visit the shop by class (we do the schedule), the volunteers can look at the envelope to help the child pick gifts. Once the child has picked a gift, the volunteer puts it in a bag, staples it, writes who the gift is to, and marks on the envelope how much the child spent on that gift. This helps make sure the child doesn't get up to the register and not have enough money, as the volunteers look at each envelope when the bag each gift.

At checkout, all gifts are bundled in a grocery bag, and the money envelope is put inside. Each child receives a small candy cane, which helps them feel like they got something, too!

We sort our tables by Adult Female, Adult Male, Young Girl, Young Boy, Baby/Toddler, Holiday, and $1.00 items. We put the tables in a "U". We only have items on the table for viewing and have the actual goods stocked under the table. We use index cards bent in half with prices marked on them and labeled with item description, which is set next to each item.

We shop year-round, with some of our biggest bargains happening after major holidays: Christmas, after Valentine's Day (lots of stuffed animals), Easter (small games, frames, pastel items, gardening items), Mother's Day, Father's Day (great time to get Dad/Grandpa gifts on sale), July 4th. We talk to store owners/managers and ask that they contact us if they have a lot of items that will be going on sale. We have gotten many items donated this way, also.

Good Dad items: Picture frames, sports trinkets, Sports Team items, camouflage velcro wallets, hand-held games, tools, playing cards, items for car, small photo albums for briefcases, key chains, coin holders.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Good luck and let me know if any of this didn't make sense!

we found a dollar store wholesaler! all our items are sold for a dollar and we wrap by using plain lunch bags that the school community has decorated at home. we always have one day on the calender asking folks to come to our family room so we can all decorate bags togather. we staple the bags shut with a bow and help label the bags for the little ones. we have about 6 vol. on each day.
the mens gifts are tough. we sell alot of tool kits, paint brush sets and nascar memo pads.
good luck!

I agree with some of the messages... I would not pre-wrap items, the kids can't see what their buying number 1, and it takes away from them wrapping their items secretly at home... Also, I don't know about you, but we don't have the help to do that... we are pre-kthru 5th grade and over 600 kids.
We spend over 10,000 per year shopping for gifts and I can't see wrapping gifts ahead of time... We purchase all our items for SAnt Shop as well... we look for deals all year long, plus purchase items off the internet at discounts.
ACO hardware worls quite well for finding deals for men and grandpas. And some of the Holiday companies will let you buy personalized items a-la-cart from them at reasonable prices.... I'd also look on-line at paper companies-- you might be able to get nice holiday bags or colored bags that can be used as gift wrap if your co-chair is insistant upon wrapping items for the kids....
We only have 45 min. for each class to shop-- so this is not possible, but maybe you could have a wrapping table-- with a few volunteers for the kids that want to pre-wrap their items... this gives your co-chair what she wanted, items wrapped, and answers the question of who could wrap all these items... Good luck, I know it's hard to get along with your co-chair sometimes... just remember, it's for the kids and Santa's Shop only lasts a few days.... Happy Holiday!

On the envelopes we got from Fun Services, the parents list who the child is buying for and also they give a range of the gift prices to check. There is one column for under a $1, 1-2, 3-5, 6-10, over 10, although I truly don't remember seeing any items costing that much during their workshop. I like this option being on the envelopes because it helps the decision making process further along. I also like that in their letter to parents, they tell them they can send a check for a total amount to school and we will send back what isn't spent. This may open up to more sales for parents who don't carry cash or forget to go to the bank. It may be safer for the kids also than carrying cash. We just need to keep that in mind when making up our register drawer.
I'll have to remember about the listing the children to buy for themselves.

After discussing with the Principal, and brainstorming with the Executive Board, we've decided on some changes...

First we are going to be sending home resealable envelopes.

We're going to ask the parents to list who the children will be buying for on the envelope.

The parents will place the money within the envelope.

Only those with an envelope, thus having money, will come to the shoppe.

This is going to prevent those without from shopping, which has caused us to wrap and place presents aside in the hopes that the child will come back on make-up day, which sometimes does not happen.

We have multiple cash boxes since our shoppe is so big. This way things don't get back-up at a check out area/line. The child picks the present(s) from the one table and hands the volunteer manning the table their envelope and their money. The volunteer will cross off who the child has already purchased for from the list. This way they're not buying more than they are going to need, plus it will hopefully cut down on them buying a lot for themselves. We're going to put it in the flier that if the parent wants them to buy for themself then please list that. The change will be put into the envelope and told to the student.

This all should cut down on the length of time it takes to get the kids through.

Regards,
PresidentJim

This is our first year with the holiday shop after a four year absence. We will set up in a locker room and the kids will shop during their gym class. Each class has gym one time per week. Only the kids who bring in money are allowed to shop. We are given "Santa Bucks" by Fun Services and actually we get alot of them. We will use them for kids who bring in $2 to shop for 4 people, slip them an extra buck or two.
Here is my problem with letting ALL kids shop or with funding shopping trips for "needy" families. I've written about this on the board previously, but will give my opinion again.
In this day and age, it is really hard to know who is truly needy and deserving...at least that's what I see in my community. We have parents who won't give up a pack of smokes so their kid can buy them a gift. Or eat out 3 nights a week instead of buying their child a book at book fair. Some parents cry they are broke and it means they can't go buy that pair of $60 shoes, while for others, it means their kids go to bed without eating. At some point, we have to make parents stand up to their responsibilities and BE PARENTS, which, sometimes, requires sacrifice, or at the very least, better planning on their part. It is so subjective to what one's definition of "needy" is.
Not all kids celebrate Christmas and some parents prefer to take their kids shopping themselves, so we shouldn't feel sorry for the kids who don't shop. Also, what happens when parents start comparing notes and realize that little Suzy got to shop and their own child didn't, even though they may truly be in a situation. In a short time, we could have parents purposely not sending in money cause they know their child gets to shop anyway. Or, they call with some madeup story about having no money.
OK, call me cynical, but I see this often and sadly, in my own family.
Merry Christmas all!