Whitefish High School Bulldogs fans soon will have a new place to shop to show off their school pride.

The new Whitefish High School store won’t just sell to students but will be operated entirely by students — from the graphics printed on merchandise to the behind-the-scenes marketing.

The student-run store is a collaboration among the Business, Graphic Design and Industrial Arts departments.

Advance Marketing students in Whitefish High School business teacher Jeremy Anderson’s class have set up the store. They will be involved with the day-to-day business operations such as ordering products, pricing merchandise, keeping an inventory and analyzing finances.

“The kids get energized through learning experiences like this,” Anderson said. “They get to see what it takes to get a product to market. It’s been a big undertaking for the kids to develop an idea and actually execute it.”

Digital Design students in Dustin Herbert’s class are completing the graphics end of the operation with plans to create a website in the future. Current designs incorporating green and gold school colors and the Bulldog mascot are showcased on a variety of men and women’s garments.

“Recognizable imagery is good for any organization,” Herbert said. “Students brainstormed probably 10 different designs. Each design we give to the Advanced Marketing class to choose from with color variations — green text and a gold stroke on the text, for example,” Herbert said.

Digital Design students also learn some business skills and maintaining a budget.

“Students used two-color and three-color [designs]. Students had to pay attention to cost and five-color [design] drives up the price point,” Herbert said.

Marketing skills also came into play for the designers.

Students had to take into consideration designing for the customer in addition to himself or herself. The end result is a combination of traditional and contemporary.

“It really validates that their skills are marketable, desirable and applicable,” Herbert said. “How cool is it going to be when they see their design on a bunch of kids in the community?”

Anderson described the variety of merchandise and said they plan to expand options if demand increases.

“We have about 20 different products that students designed from high-end dry-fit Nike shirts to basic T-shirts,” Anderson said. “We have a little bit of spirit gear — cups, seat cushions, bags, a few hats.”

Industrial arts students also built products to feature in the store and incorporated the school’s history in a new way.

Old bleachers that were torn out during the renovation of the school gym have been transformed into chairs and fold-up tables that will be available for sale. Industrial arts students also have built shelving units out of the bleachers to showcase store merchandise.

Hayley Hileman, a sophomore in Advanced Marketing, said students still are figuring out what to name the student store.

“We’ve kind of had a couple ideas, but we’re not sure yet,” Hileman said. “We’re really excited to get people knowing about the store and that it’s run by the students.”

Hileman said she is excited to operate a store and interact with customers.

“It will be cool to see how it plays out,” Hileman said. “Come in and check it out.”

Hileman said the school had a student store in the previous building, but it was much smaller and Anderson noted that it was run by one group of students.

Eventually, Anderson and Herbert would like to reach out to supply the school’s clubs and organizations with clothing in addition to marketing to students, parents and fans.

Herbert said he hopes to eventually purchase a special printer to print the clothing. Anderson said the more operations they do in house, the more they can keep costs down.

The idea is to create “our own little economic system within the school,” Anderson said.

Fifty percent of profits will support school athletic programs and 50 percent of revenue will support educational programs such as business, industrial arts and graphic design.

The grand opening of the store, which is located across from the main office in the new building, will be at 4 p.m. Dec. 9 during the double-header wrestling matches. A coupon for $5 off a $50 purchase will be available at the grand opening.

Anderson said the store doesn’t have set hours of operation but will be open during high-traffic events such as athletic games or parent-teacher conferences.

“We encourage everyone to come out and support the wrestling program and gear up with their Bulldog gear,” Anderson said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.