From Capstone to Community: Stevens Business Students Partner With Hoboken Boutique Ahead of Innovation Expo
A Senior Design team is helping Revival Vintage Boutique grow its digital presence — and bringing that work into the local community before presenting it on the Expo stage
A team of Stevens Institute of Technology seniors is helping a Hoboken vintage shop strengthen its online presence and deepen its connection with customers — work they’ll showcase next month at the university’s annual Innovation Expo.
Their project is one of 32 client-based consulting engagements from the School of Business that will be featured at this year’s Expo on May 8. Across campus, hundreds of student teams from the School of Engineering and Science and the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences also present capstone work — all of it focused on solving real-world problems for real clients and communities.
For their Senior Design capstone, students Melcah Jalleta ’26, Sofia Mantrana ’26, Jessica Aurora Piloto ’26, Julie Ann Ribeiro ’26 and Aliyah Vinas ’26 partnered with Diana Foxwell, owner of Revival Vintage Boutique in Hoboken, to drive new customers to Revival’s online store by optimizing the website, redesigning the front-end display and updating catalog imagery — while also growing the shop’s social media presence and community engagement.
"Projects like this are exactly what Senior Design is about — students aren't just solving a hypothetical problem, they're delivering real value to a real business," said Ann Mooney Murphy, Professor of Strategic Management in the School of Business and faculty advisor for the project. "I love when teams partner with businesses in the community. Local clients tend to know Stevens well, and that trust means they give students real access to the kind of information they might not share otherwise. The students get more out of it, and so does the business."
But the partnership extends beyond digital strategy. As part of their work, the students helped support Hoboken’s Earth Day Gate Sale — a citywide event where residents sell gently used items and handmade creations. Diana is covering the tabling fee for any Stevens students who want to participate, giving them a chance to engage directly with the community while contributing to a broader sustainability effort.
“Our Senior Design experience has been invaluable. We chose the business consulting track to gain hands-on experience, work directly with real business owners and make a tangible impact on the community,” says Jalleta, an information systems major. “Learning tools and concepts in the classroom is one thing — applying them in real-world situations involves far more nuance. Opportunities like this have prepared us to enter the workforce.”
The team will present the full scope of its strategy and results at Innovation Expo, alongside dozens of other business consulting projects and hundreds more from across the university. The event is free and open to the public.
Innovation Expo takes place on Thursday, May 8 at the Stevens campus in Hoboken. Learn more at stevens.edu/expo.
