Fresno State students getting taste of business world with pop-up shop

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Fresno State students are designing and selling products in a new business class for a client base they know well — students just like them.

“We wanted to offer in this course experimental learning to our students so that they can learn by doing,” says Clinical Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship Akhil Kanodia.

It’s the inaugural session of “Managing the New Venture,” offered by the Craig School of Business.

“A lot of times, you get to take a class in college where you get to be hands-on and actually create something because a lot of us just make a business out of home,” says Fresno State Marketing major Elisabeth Lemmons. “To be able to have the funds, to be able to have the funds to do this is an amazing opportunity.”

One student works as a manager at her family’s gas station and is already applying the lessons she’s learned in the classroom.

“Whenever I listen to the professor explain some kind of new marketing strategies, what’s going on in the market, then I feel like this is something that will really benefit me at my own business,” says Fresno State student Simran Rathour. “It’s benefiting me in my class, my academic career and my real-life career as well.”

The student-led pop-up store sells everything from trucker hats to tumblers, all the way to crewneck shirts and the students say the products are as diverse as the designers.

The 31 student designers are cut from the fabric of multiple majors, including business management, accounting, and finance.

“I feel like this class is representing America in a way because we all are from diverse backgrounds, but when we come together, we can be the strongest and we can make our economy really great,” Rathour said.

Students are also learning about the realities of trademark law.

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