Little experienced Uniform Shop of Horror

[Pack378]

So I am thinking about getting a little experienced uniform shop going in our pack. This is really a question for the people who have already done this. How did you get it started? Do you rent them out? Do you sell them? Do you hold a deposit? Do you do trade-ins? I really think this is a good idea, but I am looking for some ideas on a system that works....

[Lisabob]

My son's troop does this. The way the troop shop works is that we take either trade ins, or ask for a donation. We leave it up to the individual to determine the amount of any donation. Most people give $10 or so if they go that route. One difficulty I've noticed is that when newer members drop out (in our case, usually this is young guys who just crossed over from a pack) they don't even think of donating their uniforms. So we tend to have few of the smaller sizes. Oh and we always have more pants than anything else. Apparently boys don't outgrow the shirts as quickly (or they can get away with a larger size shirt and just grow into it where as the larger size pants would fall off!).

 

I was never successful in convincing others to do this, but a couple of years ago I did look into starting a uniform bank for our pack. Seemed to me that the quickest way to build a base inventory would have been to get the pack to allocate a little cash and have someone go "shopping" on ebay or the like. Cub uniform parts tend to be very cheap, esp. if you look any time other than Sept-Nov. when all the new cubs are joining. Now is actually a good time of year (people are cleaning closets, parents of boys who aren't continuing in scouts are getting rid of uniforms, etc..) If you do that it would be a good idea to watch a few times and make sure you have a good sense of what the typical price of items is likely to be, first. And of course make sure you know what you're bidding on/what you need!

[Stosh]

I have a Venturing Crew of Civil War reenactors that has a system to circulate uniforms. It's a major headache, but we cover uniforms, shoes, weapons, hats, shirts, leather belts and boxes, haversacks, canteens, etc. etc. etc.

 

:^) Just be thankful shirts and pants are the only thing you need worry about.

 

Our Crew owns the inventory. They buy, or get handed, equipment which goes into the inventory. It is bought and sold at fair market value. If a boy sells us his equipment for $1, we sell it for $1. Records are horrendous, but we do pretty fair in light of it all. We also buy new equipment for the boys and they pay back the Crew as they are able.

We save a lot on shipping costs that way, keeps the cost down for the boys.

 

Once you get this established, you can keep the boys in the right sized shirts throughout his scouting. eBay is a great way to pick up used shirts. Again, keep track of the cost and sell it at cost. Nice things go for higher prices. That way everything is on the up and up.

 

Stosh

[msnowman]

Our Pack charges $15.00 for a new shirt (complete w/ all the patches). If a family needs to upsize the next year we let them trade in their $15.00 shirt for another one. If they don't trade in their old shirt, its just another $15.00 for a new shirt. This has worked well for us, and allows us some freedom to be able to watch other sources for uniform pieces.

 

Good luck setting up a uniform shop. It has really helped increase uniform wear with our Pack.

 

YiS

Michelle

[mtm25653]

My troop and packs (2 packs) have informal uniform closets - if you outgrow something, bring it in and put it in the closet - if you have new boys, see if something in the closet fits them. To some extent, it's first come, first served, but if there is a new family with more than one boy, the leaders point them to the closet first, since they are going to have the biggest expense.

 

Remember, if the cost is a hardship, ask your local scout store to help - we've gotten uniforms for a few boys that way.

[mtm25653]

My troop and packs (2 packs) have informal uniform closets - if you outgrow something, bring it in and put it in the closet - if you have new boys, see if something in the closet fits them. To some extent, it's first come, first served, but if there is a new family with more than one boy, the leaders point them to the closet first, since they are going to have the biggest expense.

 

Remember, if the cost is a hardship, ask your local scout store to help - we've gotten uniforms for a few boys that way.

[Pack378]

Thanks for all the good ideas, I have been hitting the thrift stores and this is what I have found so far....

 

1. small cub scout class A shirt

2. 2 tiger cub t-shirts

3. a webelos belt with 10 loops on it

4. one pair cub socks and two pair boy scout socks

5. Two pair of boy scouts shorts, and two pair of boy scout pants

6. And one brand new venturing shirt, still with the tags...

 

total cost: 24 dollars

[Lisabob]

Pretty good deal for your $24! Be careful w/ those Tiger T shirts though. If you mean the orange ones, remember that the Tiger uniform was changed about a year ago so that now Tigers wear the same blue cub scout shirts as wolves & bears. Those orange shirts are cute and might be popular but they're no longer considered uniforms.