2008 Woodie Awards
Bookstore improvements
By: MaryAnn Macedo
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Campus Life
Imagine sipping Starbucks coffee while browsing a large selection of the latest hardcover bestsellers, then chatting in a comfortable seating area with that study group from biology - all before picking up the semester's textbooks on the way out.
The new bookstore on campus will be making all this reality. The store will be "ready to go for fall (2008)," says Don Hansen, public affairs specialist. And it will be twice the size of the current bookstore.
Auxiliary and Business Services funded the new store, which is under contract with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. to run the current bookstore. According to the "The View" campus newsletter from September 2007, ABS is building the new bookstore using revenues from the old bookstore.
Some of the features coming with the new store include a coffeemaker that will brew Starbucks coffee, more room for the textbooks and clothing, upgraded fixtures, seating areas, and an increase in the amount of trade books.
Trade books, or commercial hardcover books and paperbacks, will see the biggest increase thanks to the new store. The amount of trade books will "triple in size," says Amy Lewis, textbook manager.
The textbooks and clothing will be given more room. For the clothing, this means expanded lines and more products.
For the textbooks, however, Lewis points out, "Obviously teachers won't change the amount of books they order."
In addition to the new merchandise, the environment of the bookstore will change. Thanks to the coffee, seating, and new fixtures, the bookstore will be aiming for a different vibe altogether, something more along the lines of a Borders.
People can come to hang out, Lewis says of the new seating areas. The new bookstore will be "more like a store you'd want to browse for books in."
Don't expect the new bookstore to be completely different from the current one, though. Lewis says that the general bookstore items will be the same, including the types of merchandise carried.
The most important thing staying the same during the transition from old bookstore to new, however, is the pricing. Though some may worry that the new store will be charging more for the same products since the store is upgrading in general, the staff of the current bookstore assures that is not the case.
"The pricing is not going to change," Lewis says.
The new bookstore on campus will be making all this reality. The store will be "ready to go for fall (2008)," says Don Hansen, public affairs specialist. And it will be twice the size of the current bookstore.
Auxiliary and Business Services funded the new store, which is under contract with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. to run the current bookstore. According to the "The View" campus newsletter from September 2007, ABS is building the new bookstore using revenues from the old bookstore.
Some of the features coming with the new store include a coffeemaker that will brew Starbucks coffee, more room for the textbooks and clothing, upgraded fixtures, seating areas, and an increase in the amount of trade books.
Trade books, or commercial hardcover books and paperbacks, will see the biggest increase thanks to the new store. The amount of trade books will "triple in size," says Amy Lewis, textbook manager.
The textbooks and clothing will be given more room. For the clothing, this means expanded lines and more products.
For the textbooks, however, Lewis points out, "Obviously teachers won't change the amount of books they order."
In addition to the new merchandise, the environment of the bookstore will change. Thanks to the coffee, seating, and new fixtures, the bookstore will be aiming for a different vibe altogether, something more along the lines of a Borders.
People can come to hang out, Lewis says of the new seating areas. The new bookstore will be "more like a store you'd want to browse for books in."
Don't expect the new bookstore to be completely different from the current one, though. Lewis says that the general bookstore items will be the same, including the types of merchandise carried.
The most important thing staying the same during the transition from old bookstore to new, however, is the pricing. Though some may worry that the new store will be charging more for the same products since the store is upgrading in general, the staff of the current bookstore assures that is not the case.
"The pricing is not going to change," Lewis says.
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