Seton-La Salle High school seniors head to New York for retail competition
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When the Nasdaq closing bell sounds in New York City on Jan. 11, two seniors at Seton-La Salle Catholic High School will be there to help ring it.
They'll also be competing in a national championship.
David Soltis, of Baldwin Borough, and Robert Mancine, of Whitehall, have each been awarded $5,000 scholarships for their performance in a 10-week retail competition co-sponsored by Giant Eagle.
DemandTec Inc., a company that helps retailers and consumer product manufacturers work together efficiently, has held the retail challenge for high school students since 2005.
In this year's competition, David and Robert used an Internet-based software program that simulated the retail business, with each day representing a week.
They were given 20 weeks of past retail sales data, with the goal of achieving the most profit after making 10 days of pricing and inventory decisions.
David compared the competition to playing fantasy football. The most challenging part, he said, was managing inventory, then knowing when to buy and sell and what prices to set.
Learning the software was fairly easy, they said. Giant Eagle provided data from past sales of four coffee products, then David and Robert discussed how much it would cost to buy inventory and what prices they should set.
"We pretty much learned how the ideas of supply and demand work, and buying inventory," Robert said.
They finished in second place in terms of profit among the schools in their region, then went to Giant Eagle corporate headquarters to present their data and explain their approach.
They walked away as one of the six winning teams in the country.
"I think it was really just our stage presence," David said.
They each won $5,000 and will fly to New York City to take part in the final competition, where they could win another $10,000 each.
"I don't want to get too overconfident, but I think we have a pretty good chance," David said.
Regardless of whether they win, the two will help to ring the Nasdaq stock market closing bell Jan. 11.
Both students have been accepted to their schools of choice but are still making a decision about where to attend.
David is considering the University of Pittsburgh or Penn State at University Park to study physics, physical therapy, neuroscience or environmental studies.
Robert is considering Purdue University or Pitt and wants to study aerospace or computer engineering.
First Published December 31, 2009 2:25 am
