STELLAR Store Moves One Step Closer to Opening
- Philip Thibodeau
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
The transformation of the retail space at 48 North Main Street is largely complete. The former dress shop is now home to a store run by the Southington School System’s STELLAR program, which serves young adults with disabilities. Last Thursday, transition teacher Effie Cahill gave visitors a preview of the shop, which will open on a regular basis in October, around the time of the Apple Harvest Festival.
Located directly across the street from the Barnes Museum, the gift shop is a clean, colorful, well-lit place. On the left as a customer enters are shelves stocked with children’s books, puzzles, games, and DVD’s – all donations in ‘like new’ condition – along with newly-made jewelry, socks and tote bags on wall displays. Above the shelves are framed photographs of Southington scenes taken by STELLAR students.
Cahill said that while the shop welcomes donations, its storage capacity is limited, since the rooms in the back have to serve as classrooms. So far STELLAR has only solicited donations from staff in the school system, which has provided enough to get the business going. Prospective donors should first contact Cahill to see if their items are a good fit for the business.
Under the windows that face the street are stacks of Southington-themed sweatshirts, t-shirts and hats, along with wooden trays and boxes. Most of these items were made by Southington High School students in the DECA program and the manufacturing department.
Cahill said that she has been moved by the generosity of the teachers and the students in these programs. She added that the DECA students not only helped to market and price items in the store, they also volunteered to steer the STELLAR students through the intricacies of the customer service ritual: “At the beginning of the year we would open and play store with them,” she said of the students in the transition program. “If I’m a customer and come into the store, what do you say to me? And they’re like ‘I don’t know!’ They’re having this life changing moment where they think, it’s on me, I have to do this. I told the DECA students about it. At the next class they said ‘We wrote a script for them! Should we practice it, do we need visuals?’ It was amazing.”
The digital payment system was purchased with the help of a grant from the Southington Education Foundation – the District covers the rent for the shop and the salaries of the educational staff, but otherwise the business has to stand on its own two feet. Behind the register a bright neon sign that reads ‘Stellar’ serves as a focal point for the room.
While the store looks ready to go, there is still the matter of training the students who will operate it, a process that will take more time. Cahill plans to hold another one-day opening on May 29, and to begin holding regular business hours in October. That leaves plenty of time to prepare and to experiment.
“We have a room to explore lots of ideas,” Cahill said. “The store concept has been created. Now it’s all about finding out what sells. We could have a feature item where some business has an overstock item and says ‘can we sell these’? We shall see. It’s very exciting.”
