Olin undergrads support St. Louis small businesses with new South 40 shop, Gallery 314

Undergraduate business students Drake Shafer and Justin Reiling, both BU ’23, are passionate about bringing creativity from the local St. Louis area onto the Washington University campus. Shafer and Reiling have spent the past six months working on their new business, which recently opened on the South 40, called Gallery 314.

Gallery 314 is a community-centric retail store, bringing products from small businesses all over St. Louis to Washington University students. The idea for the store stemmed from Shafer and Reiling’s realization that the Washington University campus did not yet have a creative and entrepreneurial setting for community members to showcase their retail products.

So, they created one! Gallery 314 recently joined a host of other student-run businesses that have flourished on the first floor of Gregg House on the South 40, including U Trucking and Bear-y Sweet Shop.

Reiling and Shafer attribute the successful opening of Gallery 314 in part to skills both students learned in their Foundations of Business (MGT 150) course, taught by Olin faculty member Yoon Groves. The class revolved around the process of creating plans and financials for a made-up company, a process that guided Reiling and Shafer’s efforts to create and establish Gallery 314.

Pictured at top: Justin Reiling and Drake Shafer, both BU ’23.