From Launch to Close: A 30-Day Team Store Playbook

Most coordinator guides tell you what a team store is. This one tells you what to do, on each day, from the moment you decide to run a store until the orders are in production. It's the operational playbook.

The target window below is a 30-day total process: 14 days of prep (which can compress to 3–4 if you're moving fast), 14 days of store-open window, and 2 days of close-out. Adapt as needed.

Day -14 to -7: Prep phase

Day -14: Decide what's in the store. Sit down with 10 minutes and write the list. 4–8 items, no more. A jersey or performance item, a hoodie, a tee, and 1–3 optional pieces. If you can't decide which 4 items, default to: team hoodie, team tee, primary uniform piece, bag. You can always add items to a second store.

Day -12: Confirm vendor and pricing. Get the production-cost numbers for each item. Calculate your markup: 30% is the sweet spot for most programs. Too high and families push back; too low and your fundraising margin becomes symbolic.

Day -10: Draft product descriptions and sizing info. For each product, write two lines of description and include fit guidance. "Runs true to size. If your athlete wears a large in Nike tees, order a large here." This is the single biggest exchange-request reducer.

Day -7: Write your three messages. Launch message, mid-window reminder, close reminder. Don't wing these in real-time — drafting them in advance makes you a better coordinator.

Day 0: Launch day

Morning: Final check. Open the store as if you were a parent. Can you add an item? Can you check out? Does the sizing info render correctly? Does the confirmation email arrive? Do this in private-browsing mode so you don't hit your own account's cached state.

Midday: Send the launch message. Your best channel is the group text. The message should be: what the store is, brief list of what's in it, when it closes, the link. No more than four sentences.

Evening: Check analytics. You'll see the first 10–20% of families order within 6 hours if your messaging was clear. If nobody has ordered by bedtime, something is wrong — either the message didn't reach people, or there's a technical issue with the store.

Days 1–3: Front-loaded activity

You'll do almost all of your early support work in these three days.

• Answer size questions within an hour during daytime. Parents asking questions early tend to order shortly after.
• Post a "store is open" reminder in the team Facebook group or wherever your secondary channel is, for parents who missed the group text.
• Check for error reports. If any parent reports a bug or unclear step, fix it or clarify it, and then reply to the group thread with the fix.

By end of day 3, expect 40–55% of your eventual total orders to already be in.

Days 4–9: The quiet middle

This is the stretch where coordinators wonder if the store is working. It is. Orders slow down dramatically after day 3 and don't pick back up until the last 48 hours. This is completely normal.

Day 5: Send the mid-window reminder. "Halfway through! Here's what folks are ordering — [item 1], [item 2], [item 3]. Store closes [date]." This breaks the silence and lifts middle-window orders 20–30%.

Day 7: Check participation rate. If you know your team roster size, compare orders to roster. Under 40% participation by day 7 is a yellow flag — review what's happening. Over 60% by day 7 is excellent and you're on track for a strong close.

Days 10–12: Building to close

Day 10: Mid-reminder refresh. Optional, if participation is still under 50%. A casual, conversational "just a few days left — holler if you have any questions" message to the group.

Day 11: Prepare the personal-nudge list. List every family that hasn't ordered yet. For teams under 40 players, you'll personally text each of them 24–48 hours before close. For larger teams, focus on the 10–15 highest-impact families (captains, core players, families who usually order).

Days 13–14: The close

48 hours before close: Personal outreach. Text each family on your nudge list. Individual messages, not a blast. "Hey — store closes Friday, wanted to make sure you saw it. Let me know if you have questions." 60–70% of these convert.

24 hours before close: Final group reminder. "Store closes tomorrow at 8pm. Last call." Short, direct, link included. This message is responsible for roughly 30% of total orders — do not skip it.

Close day morning: Final individual nudges. Anyone who has indicated intent to order but hasn't — one more personal text. "Today's the last day if you're going to order."

Close day evening: Send the close confirmation. "Store is now closed. Orders are heading into production. Gear ships in [X] days direct to each family. Thanks everyone!"

Days 15–30: Post-close phase

The coordinator's active role is essentially done here, but two things are worth doing:

Day 16: Post a "thank you" with aggregate numbers. "Thanks everyone — we had [N] orders from [M] families, raising approximately [$amount] for the team." Do NOT include individual names or amounts. Social confirmation reinforces the team identity.

Day 20–25: Answer production-timeline questions. Parents will start asking "where's my order?" even though the delivery window isn't up yet. Be ready with the standard answer: "Production is [X] days, shipping is [Y] days, most orders arrive around [date]."

Day 25–30: Track arrival. As orders start arriving, post photos to the group when kids wear the gear. This matters — it creates the pattern for the next store, where parents remember the gear actually showed up and looked good.

The anti-patterns

Don't:

• Send the launch message and then go dark.
• Skip the mid-window reminder because "it felt pushy."
• Answer size questions a day late.
• Add new products mid-window (it invalidates earlier orders psychologically).
• Extend the close date once you've announced it (this trains parents not to trust deadlines in future stores).

The one-line rule

A team store that runs well from a coordinator's side has roughly four hours of total effort, spread across a 30-day window. The coordinator who spends eight hours is usually doing two hours of useful work and six hours of anxious checking. The coordinator who spends one hour is usually leaving 40% of potential participation on the table. Four hours, three good messages, answered questions — that's the whole job.