A store that can soar

Eagles Nest undergoes a face-lift, and the Stratford community is loving it

Haley Ellison and Olivia Mann|September 13, 2018

Imagine walking into the Eagles Nest for a candy bar, but you end up in the school supplies section. Then you realize the school supplies section is now where the pullovers are.

The Eagles Nest has been remodeled. Over the summer, Mrs. Meredith Bridges, who has run the Eagle’s Nest since 2015, said she “did not like where the snacks were, behind the counter. That drove me crazy.”

The remodeling took place for about two months. She had help from Mrs. Kelly Bailey, who works part-time in the store, and four freshmen, who received community service hours. Those four students were Lew Story, Blakely Harrell, Darius Tamale, and Emma Hayley. For the remodel, the students helped replace the ceiling tiles and floor, and repositioned the counter where Mrs. Meredith sits in the middle of the room. The merchandise also was switched around.

During the renovation, everything inside the Eagle’s Nest had to be moved around.

“Everything big was moved out into the lunch room, and more in the gym area, but the clothes were tarped with clear plastic over all the clothes,” Mrs. Bridges said,

After the cabinets and desk were removed, they began to think about the layout. The new layout makes it to where the first thing you see is Mrs. Meredith and all of the clothes.

“It’s just the layout, all about the layout, it can definitely help or hurt the store,” she said.

The store may now look a lot bigger but the the same size as the Eagle’s Nest before the renovation.

Along with the new ceiling and floors, as the school’s athletic department switched from Under Armor to to Adidas, and the Eagles Nest did, too.

“Product-wise, Adidas, I had to bring in that, so we have a few new T-shirts and polos shirts for the dads, and spirit shirts for the kids,” she said.

More Adidas items will continue to arrive during the school year. Along with spirit shirts, new spirit beads were added. They now carry sports theme bracelets in all colors. The latest addition to the Eagles Nest is Pura Vida bracelets in all colors.

The overall reaction of the new renovation has been positive.

“Ultimately, all of the kids that have come in and parents have been like ‘Oh wow! What did you do?’ ” Mrs. Bridges said. “And that is also has been fun to see reactions of students who are just now seeing it.”