University shops that sell students’ work are some of the best enterprise classrooms there are – and some of the hardest to keep going. Between 2023 and 2025 I led a knowledge exchange between three of them: Re:So at Solent University, Not Just a Shop at the University of the Arts London, and The Art Shop at Belfast School of Art, Ulster University. Here is what we learned.
Why compare three stores?
Each store had been solving the same problems on its own: how to get courses involved, how to fund the shop, how to navigate a large institution. We wanted to share what works, support each other as store leads, and connect the stores more closely to teaching, enterprise and knowledge exchange. After visiting each other’s stores in 2023, we met online seven times between May 2024 and July 2025 – and found that open conversation taught us more than any formal agenda.
Meet the three stores
Re:So, Solent University, Southampton
The longest-established of the three, opened in 2012. Re:So stocks student and graduate products, and later art supplies, and spent around a decade on the high street before moving to campus in 2023, where it gained a display window. It was run by an academic lead – my role – and returned its surplus to the university.
Not Just a Shop, University of the Arts London
Run by a professional retail manager, Not Just a Shop grew out of a gallery and retail project at High Holborn and commissions products from student designs. Its slick online presence inspired how I promoted Re:So.
The Art Shop, Belfast School of Art, Ulster University
Run by a retail coordinator, The Art Shop aims to fund itself by reinvesting its sales, and has explored funding for student interns and closer links with the curriculum.
Five things we found
- Getting courses involved is the biggest challenge. Open calls to students work best, especially when mentoring is part of the offer.
- There is no single funding model. One store aims to fund itself; others return their surplus to the university. A standard profit model fits poorly, because the real return is learning.
- Big institutions move slowly. One store waited three years to add a payment option online.
- Senior champions make the difference. When supportive leaders move on, stores lose momentum.
- Students gain real work. Paid roles, CPD in digital strategy and visual merchandising, competitions and live briefs all build employability.
What this means for universities – and for high streets
A university shop is not “just a shop”. It is experiential learning that builds creativity, confidence and enterprise. The same lessons apply well beyond campus: whenever organisations that aren’t competing share what works – BIDs, councils, charities – everyone moves faster.
Tips for anyone running a university store
- Bring course staff in through mentoring roles, not just requests for stock.
- Keep a senior sponsor informed and involved.
- Join a professional association for CPD – Re:So joined the Association of Cultural Enterprises.
- Use competitions, such as window design briefs, to reach students and alumni.
- Record everything, so the store’s impact counts in university reporting.
Read the full study
Read the full study, “Entrepreneurship in Higher Education: A Cross-Institutional Study of Creative Retailing in Three UK Universities”, on the CHORD RetailHistory blog (7 October 2026). See also the knowledge exchange case study.
Planning a university–business partnership?
I help universities design enterprise education and live projects with local businesses. Let’s talk.