Local educational store celebrates 50 years in business

GREEN BAY – Teaching and educational supplies store School House is celebrating its 50th year in business.

School House was the first teaching supply store in the state of Wisconsin and is now one of the few remaining ones.

The business was started by John and Sally Sieber in 1975 after noticing a deficit in places for teachers to buy classroom supplies.

With John receiving a degree in business and Sally being a teacher, they decided to combine their interests into one store.

Current owner and son of John and Sally, Tom Sieber said, “At the time when you got a business degree, you opened your own business. It wasn’t like you bought a franchise or went to work with somebody else...My mom being a teacher, I believe said that there’s not really any place for teachers to buy stuff. So that’s where they started.”

They began selling school supplies for teachers such as bulletin board sets and trimmers, charts, writing utensils and organizational tools.

By the 1980s, the store expanded to include children’s toys as well.

Tom Sieber bought the business from his parents in 2013 and continues to own it today.

Sieber said that School House is proud to be a locally and family owned small business here in Green Bay.

“I would say we are one of the few small businesses that’s not a franchise that’s in the area. We still try to have old-fashioned customer service where we, you know, greet people when they walk in the door.” Sieber continued, “We try to help customers find what they’re looking for. It’s not a case of going into the big box store and employees running away from you or being on your own when you walk through the doors.”

He believes that buying from small businesses is important for the local economy and community overall.

“Buying stuff from people who live in the community is more, much more impactful than buying stuff from like a Walmart or a Target,” Sieber stated.
He followed up with, “As local as you can get, the better off the community is because we all live and work here...The more small businesses we can keep in business, the better off the entire community is I believe.”

In School House’s 50 years in business, Sieber said that their biggest accomplishment is being a part of the lives of the children and teachers that they sell supplies to.

“All the classrooms and kid’s lives that we’ve been a part of over 50 years… If you count birthdays and Christmases for a toy side and then all the teacher stuff,” Sieber said. “Being a little piece of that over the 50 years has been pretty cool and a big accomplishment.”