Avon Ice Opens Sales To Alumni & Friends Of Avon

Each year, the Junior Achievement Club at Avon Old Farms School sets out to establish a company that will either solve a problem or fill a need in our school community. This year's group of young entrepreneurs have the same mission in mind, but have set their sights a bit higher in terms of product than past clubs have been willing to risk.

"Last year the club sold wallets, when there already were wallets in the school store," said Kevin Sieber '17, president of this year's company, Avon Ice. "But, what we've never seen available at a reasonable price were Avon watches – and THAT seemed like an opportunity we could capitalize on."

This year's group of 25 Junior Achievers have taken a higher risk than their predecessors by choosing a commodity that will sell for $45, unlike past products that sold for under $20. The group will donate $5 to Relay for Life for every watch sold. The group hopes that a higher value product will be more appealing to a wider audience and are hoping to raise even more money for charity.

"This is a wonderful learning experience," said club faculty advisor, Joe Martinez. "Students learn about the world of business and better understand the concepts of risk/reward as they invest their own money in the company."

The goal of Junior Achievement at Avon is to lead students to systematically create a business while being supported by Avon faculty and volunteer mentors from Junior Achievement. As part of the program, the students have already formed a management team, assigned members to a specific segment of the company, generated business ideas, performed feasibility studies, raised capital, and sourced their product.

"We asked students, faculty, parents, and alumni at what price they would purchase a watch, and gave them a few design options to provide feedback on," said Brendan Schneider '17, marketing team lead at Avon Ice. "In the end, I think we were able to produce a desirable product at an affordable price."

Now, Avon Ice has moved on to marketing their product, and have identified parents and alumni as key target audiences.

"We wanted to produce something classy and simple that alumni could wear proudly," Schneider continued. "The rose gold watch with the Avon shield is recognizable to Avonians, and a conversation piece for others."

Watches will be available to alumni for $50 (plus shipping and handling if needed) and the JA group has decided to set aside 150 watches for alumni.

"We would greatly appreciate alumni support of our organization and our interest in learning about business," said Kevin Sieber.

Those interested in placing an order should email Head of Sales Dane Bartkiewicz '18 at bartkiewiczda@avonoldfarms.com no later than January 31st to reserve one of the 150 watches set aside for alumni.

Customers can expect a reply from Dane with information about where to send checks and when to expect delivery of their watch.

"If we can reach our goal of selling a minimum of 300 watches, we'll be able to donate more than $1,500 to Relay For Life team," said Eric Ngai '17, vice president of Avon Ice, who recently took part in presenting a check for $800 for Toys for Tots to Mr. LaRocque on behalf of the club. "It is one of our guiding principles as a company to raise money for charitable causes, which is why we wanted to take the risk we did – we wanted a bigger reward that we could pass along to the community in need."