COURTESY OF JULIANNE MANGANO
The Mangano siblings sell merchandise in front of the Library Quad.
When she was a freshman, Samantha Archer, junior finance major, received a surprise Shark Kits package from her mother.
“It was a surprise from my mom on Valentine’s Day, so I actually didn’t know what I was picking up. I had gotten an email saying that I was supposed to go to the Shark Cage to go pick up a package that I had. And when I saw it and I read the card, it was from my mom,” Archer said. “I was super excited, and plus it was my freshman year, so I hadn’t received anything, really. It was pretty cool.”
Shark Kits is a student-run family business that sells themed boxes with gifts and snacks. Depending on the type of box, they can contain a variety of items, like hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, candy and notebooks.
Shark Kits sells its care boxes to parents who can add a personalized note, and then delivers them to students. The care boxes are between $25 – $45. Shark Kits also offers subscriptions for its boxes, which can be between $75 to $300.
Started in 2021 by Julianne Mangano, NSU alumna, Shark Kits continues today with her brother, Ryan Mangano, sophomore property management and real estate major in the Huizenga Business Innovation Academy.
Originally from New Jersey, Julianne had the idea to create Shark Kits after moving to Florida to attend NSU.
“It was a really tough transition, moving away from home and being away from my family, who I grew up very close to,” Julianne said.
Julianne said her aunt sent her care packages on special occasions.
“What I realized is, a lot of times they either arrive too late or the cost of shipping was really expensive. It was like $25 to just ship a little box,” she said.
Julianne then had the idea to create college care packages for students. Throughout the year, Shark Kits offers a Birthday Box, Halloween Box, Get Well Soon Box and Study Boxes. Shark Kits will also have a Valentine’s Day Box to be distributed between Feb. 11-14.
Julianne graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship in 2022 and a master’s in Real Estate Development in 2023. Since her graduation, Ryan has taken over parts of the business and also added to it. When Ryan helped Julianne run Shark Kits in 2023, they started to sell apparel in addition to the boxes. The apparel can range between $5 to $45.
“We started selling Shark Slides, Shark Socks, basically anything that had a Shark on it. And students loved it, especially because of how reasonable our prices were. So now we have a complete line of what we call Shark Swag, with Shark merchandise and NSU apparel,” Ryan said.
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