What started as a way to share the creations of Elon students has turned into a full-time online operation for Ryan McElhinney ’19 and Lindsay Reeth ’19, founders of the Student-Made Store
Peruse the Student Made Store website and you’ll find intricate woven wall hangings and jewelry pieces that are as much works of abstract art as they are fashion accessories, photography of campus landmarks and vivid watercolor prints, earthen pottery and cozy knit scarves. All of the goods offered on the site are meticulously handcrafted by college students, many of whom hadn’t thought about selling their work until two of their peers gave them an outlet.
Ryan McElhinney ’19 and Lindsay Reeth ’19 founded the Student-Made Store in December 2017 during their junior year at Elon as a space for student artists from any discipline to share their creations with the campus community while learning valuable entrepreneurial skills. The first iteration of the Student-Made Store was a holiday market with 15 artists. Now, it’s an online operation that spans multiple universities. “The overall mission of the Student-Made Store is to help young, talented college students trust their creative expression while also gaining support for their growing businesses,” Reeth says. “We call this movement the ART-repreneur movement, allowing students to gain the confidence and experience to turn their deepest passions into viable businesses.”
McElhinney and Reeth met at Elon through mutual friends and shared a passion for exploring North Carolina. Reeth majored in human service studies with minors in leadership, psychology and teaching and learning while McElhinney created an independent major called human-centered enterprise, which combined business with elements of psychology, sociology and human service studies. Whenever the pair went on weekend excursions to North Carolina towns, they would stumble upon small businesses with unique handmade goods and talk to the owners about their creative process. As their interest in the local artisan community grew, McElhinney and Reeth discovered some of their classmates had their own small businesses. Those student artists all had one thing in common — they had never sold their work to people at Elon.
“That immediately sparked an idea in us,” Reeth says. “These students have this amazing talent, so why does no one on campus even know about it? You have a community of supporters right where you live.”
That’s when the pair sought to bring these student artists together and share their work with the campus community. The student artists they met introduced them to more student artists, and before they knew it, they had recruited 15 makers who agreed to sell their work at a holiday market on campus. The event attracted about 300 students, faculty and staff and garnered positive buzz on social media and through word of mouth. When the Student-Made Store returned for a second holiday market the following year, it grew to 35 artists, 800 visitors and more than $4,000 in sales. “We had a lot of people who were really timid about selling, and a lot of them ended up selling out completely,” McElhinney says. “They had no idea people would want to buy something they made. They had this whole new re-energized view of what their art could do.”
McElhinney and Reeth hadn’t planned to continue the store after graduation. But a trip to Boone that summer reminded them why they fell in love with local makers, so they decided to move the Student-Made Store online year-round. It launched in September 2019 with 25 Elon artists. The pair, who now live in Boston, lost their full-time jobs at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But that setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With more time to dedicate to the business, McElhinney and Reeth noticed a surge in customer engagement and sales. They now run the Student-Made Store and another company that manages websites and marketing for small businesses full time. “It was clear that the store had become a way for the Elon community to stay connected while they were away from campus and unable to be together,” Reeth says, “so we decided we could expand this concept to include other campuses as well.”
McElhinney’s sister attended the University of South Carolina at the time, and she helped them recruit artists there. Then a student artist from the University of Washington contacted them about bringing the Student-Made Store to her campus. Almost immediately, Elon customers began purchasing products from the other schools and vice versa, exposing the student artists to new buyers and offering customers a wider variety of goods. Appalachian State University joined the Student-Made Store in January, and collections from the College of Charleston and North Carolina State University will debut in the coming months. In addition to expanding to more schools, McElhinney and Reeth hope to add a collection from alumni artists to foster a stronger connection with campus communities beyond students, including alumni, parents, faculty and staff.
“One of the greatest things about attending a college or university is the fact that you are joining a community of supporters for life — people who want to see you succeed and help you do so,” McElhinney says. “That’s what makes the Student-Made Store so unique. We are tapping into the strength of connection that college campuses so naturally create.”