A Love of Learning The School Box seeks to instill lifelong

by Victoria Ritter

WhenChristine Persson started her teaching career 35 years ago in Georgia, she had to make her own learning games and hands-on teaching tools because she couldn’t find an materials readily available. To fill tha void, she founded The School Box in Marietta, Georgia in 1990. The shop provides “expertise and unique products to help young minds grow.” Her goal was to help teachers and parents become passionate about instilling a love of learning in children.

Today The School Box includes three retail locations, a catalog and two websites (schoolbox.com and schoolboxkits.com). It has been voted “Best Educational Store” by Marietta’s Cobb Life Magazine for four years running.

Tapping into the Market

The business expanded over the decades. At one point it operated 17 brick-and-mortar storefronts – most located around the metro Atlanta area, one in Tennessee, another in Virginia – and a mobile store that drove to rural schools. Most of those stores closed over the past decade; during the COVID-19 pandemic, four more of its locations closed as its web business saw

“a big increase,” according to Persson.

“As the retail landscape has changed and more of our customers are shopping online, we have had to pivot our business and put a good bit of energy into our website,” Persson said. “We have kept our strongest stores and they are showing an increase in sales over last year.”

While many of The School Box’s customers enjoy holding and interacting with products before they make a purchase, the business’ online traffic i growing. Persson has seen online orders come in from customers across the country, from California to New York. She feels “grateful and blessed” to see the benefit of a website and to have the abilit to reach a variety of customers.

Trends in educational materials have been “all over the place,” according to Persson, but there are a couple that remain constant. One is the desire among teachers to create thematic classrooms via decorative items. Another popular approach among both teachers and parents is hands-on learning and physical teaching tools, or “manipulatives.”

“They want their kids off the computer,” Persson said.

Through it all, Persson attributes The School Box’s longevity to her team, which she views as its most important asset. “Engaged and happy employees take good care of customers,” she said. “We have an incredible team and we are here because of them. I have a vision and real passion around what we are doing and that has greatly contributed to our success.”

She and her team generate ideas for their inventory by listening to customers, networking with their sales reps and other businesses and attending trade shows including WeConnect, Toy Fair New York and ASTRA Marketplace.

Best Performers

The School Box’s three stores are situated around the Atlanta, Georgia area in Tucker, Morrow and Kennesaw, with about half an hour between them. On average, each store is about 5,000 square feet. Of the 17, they were the best performing in terms of sales and customer count and have been in business for more than 28 years.

“I love the diversity of the communities we reach,” Persson said. “I have learned it doesn’t matter a person’s ethnicity and socio-economic status; we all care about our children’s education and want the best for our kids and students.”