Now that it’s Homecoming Week, the Mount Vernon Stable is gearing up for one of their biggest selling events of the year: The homecoming football game, the first official game in the new Martha Parsons and Family Activities Complex (MAC).
To get ready for the homecoming game, the Stable, a student-run store that sells Mustang merchandise, had to wait for the MAC to be completed, which finally happened just in time for homecoming. This week business teacher Kevin Murray and his students who run the Stable will inventory and stock up the brand new shop that was built specially for the Stable in the MAC.
Before the MAC was built, the Stable used a trailer to move their products to and from the high school and the football field. Originally, a window for the Stable at the MAC wasn’t always the plan, but it managed to be incorporated into the building. Murray said that he’s “pretty happy about that,” and it’ll “be huge for our business.”
This year is different than any other year because Mount Vernon now has its own football field when in previous years football games have been at the First Street Building, which was the old high school. For awhile, games were played on the Cornell football field when Mount Vernon and Cornell had an agreement to share the field. Now that the football team has their own field on campus, the Stable also has their own shop which will be an upgrade from their usual trailer.
Along with the homecoming football game, the Powderpuff game and this Friday being the first game in the MAC bring in additional income for the Stable. “September is our best month of the year,” said Murray. “Our number to beat is $7873 from 2022, and I would anticipate that with everything going on, with white shirts and homecoming all the same week, I think that will boost our sales for the month probably over $10,000, which will be the largest month we’ve ever had.” According to the numbers from last year, the year’s total sales were $32,400, which was the highest they’ve been, making this September, and particularly this week, about one-third of sales for the whole year.
In addition to an upgraded shop, the Stable also designed a new shirt for the homecoming game being the first game in the MAC. Part of the Stable is that students can help design the shirts and other merchandise. Abigail Spalding, a student part of the Stable explained all the different roles that students have in the Stable. “We all have our different types of roles. Mine personally I handle like the money and handle what goes in and what goes out. Other people handle like tagging the merchandise, taking pictures of it, and putting it on the website.”
In addition to a new shop for the Stable, they’ve also contributed a huge new backlit Mustang on the outside of the high school facing the MAC that will light up during football games and track meets. The Mustang was a $10,000 project that the Stable took over and was able to do now that they don’t share profits with the Booster Club.
The Stable started about nine years ago when an entrepreneurship class wanted to sell name-brand apparel, versus what the Boosters were selling, which was the Gildan brand that is used for generic shirts. Murray ordered some Nike shirts, and the class made a $1500-$1700 profit. The next year they did the same with Under Armor, and then they did it a third year, which is when the Booster Club came to Murray and told him that the newly formed Stable was eating into Booster profits. After that Murray took over selling Mount Vernon gear “with the idea that we would have it as a student-driven class, and all the profits or the proceeds from our sales go back into the district.”
When the Stable originally took over from the Booster Club, the agreement was a 50/50 split in profits, but now that the Booster is in a good financial position, the Stable can take the money from their profits and spend it in other places, including the new Mustang on the wall, and new rug runners in the front of the high school.
