Affton Marketing Class Starts Small Business, Sells Jackets

A small business that started in Affton High School’s advanced marketing class is up and running, and it is offering colorful fleece jackets emblazoned with the Affton logo.

Three students from the class made a presentation about their business, “Elite 15,” to the Affton School Board at Tuesday’s meeting. They also showed off their two products: the jackets and Affton-logo plastic tumbler glasses.

Every year, advanced marketing, taught by Justin Hildebrand, focuses on starting a small business, from seeking out investors to provide startup capital to producing and marketing a product to paying out shareholder dividends.

The students told the board that Elite 15 (named after its 15 employees) was a hybrid between a partnership and a corporation. They began by selling $100 in stock to get started, and now they are on to selling their products.

So far, the class has sold around 150 tumblers out of the 200 they ordered. They picked up a dozen preorders for their fleeces in the first week. Now they are considering coming out with a third product.

Along with paying profits to their stockholders, the company hopes to raise $500 to award as a scholarship to the winner of “Affton Apprentice”—a business-skills competition in Hildebrand’s class similar to the Donald Trump reality television show.

Elite 15 is taking preorders for its $35 fleeces in room 36. They come in seven colors, and student Kyle McAllister told the school board that the sizing runs a little big. The company hopes to get their first batch in fleeces in by mid-November. Nov. 30 is the last day to preorder one.