Not your average lab: Retail project opening on High Street
The Retail Lab is the creation of Elizabeth Shorrock, a West Virginia University fashion design and merchandising professor. The space is more than a storefront, as it also is a place for hands-on learning. WVU students are given the opportunity to have real-world experience in the world of fashion.
'This is a lab for our fashion and WVU classes,' said Shorrock, who led the two-year effort to bring the space to life. 'Students can see the entire process, from visual merchandising and community engagement to the research behind fashion and working directly with customers.'
Inspired by a concept shared by a student who studies abroad in Italy, The Retail Lab follows a system that combines a luxury resale store in the front and an educational space in the back.
The store will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and will feature high-quality consignment fashion, workshops, artist talks and rotating exhibits by students and local creators.
Shorrock emphasized that the store will not accept fast fashion items. 'We do not take any fast fashion clothing,' she said. 'We pick through everything; we want good-quality clothing.'
This space is an example where community meets campus. All items in the store are consigned, with the highest commission rates reserved for current fashion students. But the Retail Lab also accepts consignments from alumni and local residents.
Daphne Carroll, who graduated from WVU's fashion program in 2024, now serves as store manager.
'It's exciting to be part of something that connects students to Morgantown in a meaningful way,' Carroll said. 'I think there's a disconnect sometimes, and this space helps bridge that gap.'
In addition to retail operation, the store space will serve multiple purposes for the community. A career closet is available for all WVU and community members to borrow professional clothing for interviews, headshots, and events. Future plans also in the talks of launching a rental program. This could be used for special occasions such as sorority events, prom, and even banquets.
The Retail Lab will also host community workshops, artist lectures and classes for the public. The space can be rented for private events or entrepreneur projects.
The store reflects WVU's broader effort to provide students with accessible, practical resources while also engaging the local community.
'Our students have access to so many amazing resources,' Shorrock said. 'Retail Lab ensures they continue to use them post graduation and also gives the community a chance to benefit from those same tools.'
The Retail Lab is located on High Street in downtown Morgantown and welcomes shoppers, consignors, and community collaborators beginning this Friday with a grand opening in September.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dominion Post
05-08-2025
- Dominion Post
W.Va. leads in tourism growth
MORGANTOWN — Most people think of West Virginia and picture college football games, country roads or even couch-burning parties at WVU. But, what many do not realize is that this state is becoming one of the most visited places in the country. According to a new national report, West Virginia has the highest out-of-state tourism rate in the country for 2024. With a visitor count nearly 42 times the population, more people are coming to the Mountain State than almost anywhere else. Former Governor and current U.S. Sen. Jim Justice released a statement this week celebrating the milestone. 'While serving as governor, I made it a priority to show the world our great state and the great people of West Virginia. – I'm proud to see that work paying off,' Justice said. 'Americans are coming in droves to see our beautiful towns, state forests, our new state park at Summersville Lake, and our new national park at New River Gorge.' The state invested hundreds of millions into advertising, infrastructure and outdoor recreation, which helped tourism spending reach $6.3 billion in 2023. That's a 23% increase from 2019, more than double the national average growth rate of 9%, according to the state's 2023 tourism impact report. At the center of this growth are West Virginia's public lands. With 36 state parks drawing more than 7 million visitors annually, and New River Gorge National Park — the newest addition to the U.S. national park system — seeing record numbers. Places like Summersville, Fayetteville and Davis are now tourist hotspots, bringing a huge demand for restaurants, lodging and small businesses. More visitors mean more jobs, more tax revenue and more opportunity for locals. By working to help protect and invest in the natural beauty of the state, West Virginia can continue to build on this — keeping jobs local, supporting small towns and ensuring future economic growth is invested into what makes the state special. Justice urged current state leaders to continue investing in tourism, saying, 'West Virginians depend on it.' West Virginia may not be the largest or most talked-about state, but its natural beauty is attracting attention.
Dominion Post
25-07-2025
- Dominion Post
WVU extends athletic director Wren Baker's contract through 2032
MORGANTOWN — WVU will not be searching for a new athletic director any time soon, as Wren Baker has reached a second contract extension with the school. The extension, which became official with Baker's signature on June 5, keeps Baker tied to the university through Dec. 31, 2032, roughly 10 years after first bringing him to Morgantown from North Texas. The second amendment adds two more years to Baker's contract, as well as increasing some of his retention incentives. WVU president Michael T. Benson announced Baker's contract extension Thursday morning on MetroNews Talkline, but it was former president E. Gordon Gee who negotiated the deal with Baker. 'He has told me he is very happy here and his wife and daughters are very happy here,' Benson said on the radio show. 'We have extended his contract. He is doing an unbelievable job. He is the new chair of the athletic directors within the Big 12. I have been on a few calls already with that group. He is very well respected.' So well respected that there had been whispers in recent months that Baker could be recruited away from WVU. His name had been associated with both Oklahoma and TCU as a potential candidate. A native of Valliant, Okla., Baker will earn $1.3 million — plus incentives and a retention bonus — this year. In the additional seven years, his salary increases $100,000 each year. In 2032, Baker will earn $2 million. Over the lifetime of the extension, Baker's base salary will reach a combined $13.2 million, an average of $1.65 million per year. His retention incentive — recorded July 1 of every year — also became more consistent. Under the previous deal, Baker earned an additional $200,000 earlier this month, but was not due another retention bonus until 2026 and then again in 2028 and 2030. Under the latest amendment, Baker will now earn a $200,000 retention bonus every July, except for 2030 and 2032, when it increases to $500,000. The retention bonus is paid to Baker as long as he remains employed at WVU as of July 1 each year. Gee completed the amendment by writing, 'I extend and amend your appointment with pleasure for the continued benefit of West Virginia University.' Baker's buyout is $1 million if he were to leave for another school this year. It drops to $800,000 in 2026 and then drops a continual $200,000 per year through 2029. From 2030-31, Baker's buyout is $100,000 per year and it becomes $0 in 2032. Baker was first hired at WVU as the school's 13th athletic director on Nov. 30, 2022 and received his first contract extension in May of 2024. His tenure at the school has covered many WVU athletic successes, but also some chaotic moments. Over his first 30 months as the school's athletic director, Baker has overseen three head coaching changes within the men's basketball program, including the forced resignation of Hall-of-Fame coach Bob Huggins. Baker also hired Rich Rodriguez as football coach after firing Neal Brown earlier this year. He hired Mark Kellogg as the women's basketball coach in 2023, after former coach Dawn Plitzuweit left after one season. Steve Sabins also became the successor to former WVU baseball coach Randy Mazey under Baker's watch. In recent days, Baker successfully extended the contracts of Kellogg, Sabins and rifle coach Jon Hammond, as well as finalizing the contract of WVU men's basketball coach Ross Hodge. 'You look at the coaches he just extended a few days ago and the hire of Rich Rod has gotten people very animated and very excited, and coach Hodge,' Benson said. 'I am very impressed with the operation and how well he is doing in terms of revenue generation and forward thinking about where we want to take the university.'
Dominion Post
12-07-2025
- Dominion Post
West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez appreciates new revenue share ruling, doesn't care about CFP format
MORGANTOWN — West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez hasn't spoken in front of the media in three months, and the rapid space of college athletics has seen massive changes in the time away from the podium. At the start of June, revenue sharing was announced, and more guardrails were applied, with a new College Sports Commissioner picked, in charge of regulating NIL. With over a decade of experience, Rodriguez witnessed the change of college athletics over the years and was vocal about how there needed to be a change. Now, there have been changes made, and Rodriguez gave his opinion at Big 12 Media Days. 'A lot better guardrails than a month ago,' Rodriguez said. 'I mean, it was a cluster for the last three or four years. All coaches are complaining about it, but it was just a mess, and nobody knew how to really solve it right away. And I still think we got it a lot better now with the cap and the rev share. But there's still a lot of work to do.' The new ruling isn't perfect, like Rodriguez said. Paying players directly is a step forward. The College Sports Commission could be too, but there's no telling how much jurisdiction it'll have over passing and denying NIL deals without lawsuits. Rodriguez still doesn't have his one transfer portal window, either, arguably his biggest issue. There's still work to do. Rodriguez wants athletic directors and Congress to lead the charge on shaping the future of collegiate athletics. 'Hopefully, smarter minds than myself will get that together,' Rodriguez said. 'I said this earlier today, I think they need to get the college athletic directors more input and more say in how college athletics is going to be run because these are the guys and the ladies that know what's best for the schools and what's best for the country in college athletics.' West Virginia's representative is athletic director Wren Baker. Baker and WVU athletics moved quickly on the new ruling, creating a revenue-sharing company, Gold & Blue Enterprise, to generate money. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yomark said WVU was the first school to integrate Venmo and PayPal to distribute revenue-sharing money. Baker is fully committed and determined that WVU athletics has everything necessary to compete at the highest level. Rodriguez appreciates the work Baker's done, and is glad he's WVU's athletic director. 'I've worked for a lot of really good ADs,' Rodriguez said. 'One or two, I wasn't sure about, but most of the ones I've worked with have been great. Wren has as good a grasp as anyone. I'm very fortunate. We're in good shape with Wren Baker.' The new court ruling isn't the only news that's emerged since Rodriguez's last press conference after the Gold-Blue Game. There've been talks about moving to a 5-plus-11 and 16-team College Football Playoff model in the future, meaning the Power Four conference champions get a bid, the highest rated conference champion, and then 11 at-large bids. Some SEC coaches wanted a 4-4-2-2 system, where the SEC and Big Ten would get four bids each, and the Big 12 and ACC would get two each. The consensus, though, is the 5-plus-11. Rodriguez cares a lot less about the College Football Playoff than NIL, revenue sharing, and the transfer portal. 'I don't give a sh*t,' Rodriguez said. 'I mean, my give a sh*t meter is a lot less than a lot of stuff. If you win the league, you're going to be in. Just win the league, like 5-11, all that stuff, whatever. I'm worried about just winning. Let's win the league. I ain't worried about, well, this team's going to vote here, what's this team going to vote there? If you're good enough, people will know you're in the top 12, whatever, it's good. We win all of our games. I guarantee we're in the playoffs.' Rodriguez still has his issues with college athletics, but he's not alone. There are a lot of coaches in just the Big 12 that have problems. Rodriguez made it clear where he stands and what he wants: more guardrails and one transfer portal. Those changes are looking like they're coming in the future. Despite his issues, Rodriguez still loves his main job, coaching WVU to win football games. 'I think we're in a better place now than we were a month ago,' Rodriguez. 'There's still some work to be done. We could complain as coaches, but hell, it's still a pretty good gig. You know what I mean? These are good jobs. There are a lot tougher jobs than being a college football coach. So like I said, I'm fortunate and blessed to have what I have.'
