MAY/JUNE 2011
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COLLEGE STORE EXECUTIVE
Back-to-School PreParationS
Stores Plan Ahead for Fall Rush
S
ummer may be just around the
corner, which means that the
spring semester is winding down and
students are getting ready to leave
their dorms, apartments or off-campus housing and head home for a few
months.
As students may keep their minds
off school for a little while during the
summer, bookstore directors/managers are very busy preparing for the
fall semester. Whether it’s inventory
planning/purchasing, hiring new
employees, budgeting or point-ofsale (POS) system upgrades, directors/managers are in the throes of
advance planning to get their stores
ready for fall rush.
College Store Executive asked directors/managers to provide details
on what goes into preparing their
stores for fall rush, and also asked
vendors to talk about some of the new
and exciting items being featured on
store shelves this fall.
More cashiers are needed to
handle the long lines of students
during fall rush.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY STORE, GEORGIA
SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
All About
Selling
Books
and
Supplies
Samiratedu
By Mehmet Samiratedu, director, The University Store, Georgia Southern University
G
eorgia Southern University is a four-year school with about 20,000 students. We are located
in Statesboro, Ga., about 50 miles west of Savannah. We have some mega-discount stores in
town, plus a couple of campus competition stores. The University Store has the textbooks needed
for current class courses, the supplies needed for class and the apparel to look like a Georgia
Southern student.
The supply part of our business has been holding its own considering the ever-growing competition. We feel confident that what we are doing is working for our students and us. The supplies department makes sure every item is at its maximum inventory level. Vendor partnerships
are the most important part of our success; the many vendors that support us make all the difference in the world.
We consider fall rush as our time to sell books and supplies. The entire store transforms to
accommodate additional supply displays, gondolas and fixtures. Along with additional supplies
fixtures, we make room for access codes, e-books, rental books and 20 extra cash registers. You
can imagine that our “extra” space is occupied very quickly.
Planning starts during February and March. This also happens to be the buying season for fall
arrivals. Our buyers coordinate with their vendors so shipments are staggered. We do not want to
get all of our textbooks, supplies and sportswear orders in at the same time.
Like any other college bookstore, the most sought after items are textbooks. For the store to
make sure that the students can easily access their course textbooks, a variety of things have to
take place. The store first works with professors to gain their teacher requisitions on the books
that will be needed for the fall courses. These requisitions are very important because they tell us
what books to order, how many and where to find the books on the shelves. Also, we are able to
set up our buyback systems once the requisition is received.
Other items that the store makes sure to do before the fall semester is to hire more cashiers to work the floor and help customers. We have a total of 30 registers on our floor during rush.
One would think that lines would not be an issue with this many
registers open, but it is. Our registers are placed behind our soft
goods. Therefore, while students wait in line, they can take a look
at our T-shirts and hoodies. We place signs throughout the store
to inform customers on the different counters like Web pickup,
honors books and rentals. These three categories, along with access codes, e-books and class notes, are located outside of the
textbook area. We do this so there will not be a lot of congestion
in the textbook aisles.
The bookstore business is an ever-growing and changing business. Trends come and go. What is hot this fall does not mean it
will be the same next fall. So, having a staff who can adjust and
alter is the key for success of any store.
COLLEGE STORE EXECUTIVE
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MAY/JUNE 2011
Ensuring Good
Customer Service
By Mike Reed, director, Boise State University
Bookstore
New Beginnings
and Unusual
Challenges
W
hen preparing for another semester
By Steve Wenger, director, Wildcat Shop, Cenrush period, one of the most important
tral Washington University
aspects is ensuring good customer service.
We start our hiring process in early July
he Wildcat Shop is an 18,000-squareand will hire up to 60 temporary positions,
foot institutional store that supports
most of whom are students. Selecting highCentral Washington University.
Reed
Wenger
ly qualified individuals and training them
We are a quarter school and start fall
well is the key.
quarter in late September, so our preparaAll new hires attend a four-hour orientation session and then attions start a little later for fall rush than many stores across the country.
tend training sessions in cashier functions, using our inventory control
Most of the major product purchasing decisions are made by our buysystem (ICS) to locate textbooks and other merchandise, and floor and
ers in mid-spring for fall quarter.
buyback training. These individuals then spend 40 hours working the
We review the building needs during spring with plans to carry out
floor, shadowing a veteran employee who can help them with questions
improvements or repairs in early August, our slowest month of the year.
and procedures. The final step is successfully passing a Web-based
We schedule floor waxing and deep-cleaning carpets for the week after
quiz, which tests their understanding and knowledge gained from their
all improvements are complete. We have a fairly small storage area for
training.
the store, so we schedule our fall shipments throughout July and August
There are several other aspects that we do to help with the impact
to allow for getting products in and ready for fall. Buyers begin to schedof back-to-school business. Additional registers are placed at the storeule this in the spring as they place their orders.
front; a separate checkout location is designated for other accounts
We make all our marketing and promotional decisions for the fall
and athletic scholarship students; an express line is created for customrush in July so that we have time to prepare signage and displays. We
ers not purchasing rental books (as the rental process slows down the
also work on our website in July, making large-scale changes in preparation for fall quarter.
lines); a separate location is set for returns and buybacks; and greeters
In August we are reordering and checking all store supplies and
staff all entrances to not only greet, but also offer directions for returnforms for rush. We also set textbook shelves so they are stocked and
ing books and buyback, as well as hand out coupon books.
ready at least five weeks before rush.
At the checkouts, a hand bill is stapled to all receipts, reminding stuHiring for all temporary rush employees and any additional students of our return date policy and providing them additional information, such as the rental program.
dents are hired in August as well. We hire about 20 temporary non-stuWe have been renting textbooks for the past two semesters, and
dent employees each fall rush and an additional 10 students beyond
our usual staffing of 35 students for regular positions during the year.
rentals continue to grow in popularity and demand.
Several of our temporary employees have worked for us over 15 years.
Many students purchase their textbooks through our website, and
the free shipping option of picking up your book order at our order
Students can start purchasing products on their student accounts
fulfillment site adjacent to the bookstore is used by approximately 80
a month before the quarter starts, so we see increased activity in sales
percent of those placing book orders. With the high demand on Web oraround the last week of August. Just after Labor Day, we put up fresh
displays for fall rush and rearrange our cashiering area for maximum
ders prior to classes beginning, we have found it essential to run earlymorning and evening Web pull crews to service the demand of 400 to
capacity.
—Continued
500 orders per day.
We have recently added Verba software to our
website, which allows our customers to compare our
text prices with other online vendors, and then order
their book from the selected vendor directly from our
site. As we all know that students are shopping the
Internet for their book prices, we feel this will help
to keep them going to our site as their first choice to
compare prices.
We have worked with one of our supply vendors to
supply free notebooks, which are handed out at the
cash registers to the first 5,000 students during rush
week. Supply items, such as highlighters, packaged
pens, filler paper and spiral notebooks, are merchandised in locations at the checkouts and along the
waiting lines for students’ needs and impulse buys.
New this fall will be the bookstore’s move to a
digital media system, with flat-screen TVs mounted
in locations visible while students wait in line. The
The Boise State University
messaging here will include back-to-school specials,
Bookstore is stocked and
ready for fall rush.
information such as textbook rentals and entertainPHOTO COURTESY OF BOISE STATE UNIVERment highlights from our successful football proSITY BOOKSTORE
gram, as well as other sports.
T
MAY/JUNE 2011
We also start training all new temporary help for rush. We hold a mandatory training day for all student
employees one week before classes
begin that involves refreshing them
on store policy and team building.
The freshman class arrives the
next day for five days of orientation.
From then until the first of October
we are in the thick of fall rush.
Fall rush is always such a fun time
of new beginnings and unusual challenges. As a staff we have a great laugh
over the crazy questions students ask,
such as, “If I put more songs in my
iPod will it make it heavier?”
One of our favorites — which is
quite common — is when we adopt
course materials that several instructors will use. Several times per quarter a worried student will say, “The
shelf tag has the wrong professor for
my class! My professor’s name is Joe
Smith and the tag says Professor Various!”
•
COLLEGE STORE EXECUTIVE
Central Washington University students
can support their football team with
their bookstore purchases.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WILDCAT SHOP, CENTRAL WASHINGTON
UNIVERSITY
Function and Durability
B
ackpacks are essential components in the everyday
lives of college students. They could hold textbooks,
notebooks, laptop PCs, e-readers, cell phones, supplies
– just about anything that students need when they walk
from their dorms to class, go from class to class or head to
the library to study.
Korus Co., a manufacturer of backpacks, multipurpose
bags, luggage and other travel solutions, has launched a
series of backpacks and convenience (or packable) bags designed with a focus on function and durability to ensure that
students could use these backpacks for a very long time.
John Lim, president/chief executive officer
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KORUS CO.
(CEO) of Korus Co, Inc., told College Store Executive that the company launched
new lines of Western Pack
backpacks and Doumi
convenience bags at the
recently
completed
Campus Market Expo
(CAMEX) 2011 in
Houston, Texas. Both
lines will be featured
on college bookstore
shelves for the fall
semester.
He noted that
up until recently,
Korus had not
heavily promoted
the brands it manufactures, includ
including its main line of
products, Western Pack.
“On the marketing side, Western
Pack was promoted strictly by word
of mouth. It was not advertised anywhere as much as it
should have been for the past
25 years.
“Now, we’re trying to promote Western Pack and actually bring the line of products to
a different level. We’re focused
on different types of strategies
to get our name out there.”
What makes the Western Pack line of
products unique, according to Lim, is that there
is not as much of a concentration on mainstream design and color as
there is a focus on quality and price point.
In the college market, Western Pack products – specifically backpacks and bags — have been carried in bookstores for almost 20 years,
Lim said.
At CAMEX, Korus introduced the Western Pack BP504 laptop backpack, a “very convenient” backpack that opens up sideways and is
made of 1680 denier polyester fabric, which Lim noted is a heavy-duty,
super-lightweight fabric that compares with the fabric used to manufacture luggage.
Other features of the BP504 include an extra compartment with filing slots; a large front pocket with a full organizer that contains a mesh
COLLEGE STORE EXECUTIVE
•
MAY/JUNE 2011
Saving for a Cause
S
The window display at Central Washington
University’s Wildcat Shop features back-toschool items available at the bookstore.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WILDCAT SHOP, CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
pocket inside the sleeve; hidden side-zippered pockets; spacious front
compartments; and a fitted handle.
The BP504 could hold up to 17-inch laptop PCs, and the backpack’s
sideway opening makes it more convenient to place the laptop inside,
as compared with the traditional method of opening the backpack from
the top.
In regard to color, the BP504 is available in black and khaki, or what
Lim termed “very neutral” colors. He noted that approximately 90 percent of Western Pack products come in black, green, navy and red, but
function and durability are the primary focus, not color.
Lim noted that the response to the BP504 laptop backpacks at CAMEX was “very good. The simplicity of the backpack was what interested
a lot of people.”
School BackpackS
Korus also introduced the BPHT school backpacks at CAMEX. These
backpacks are made of two-tone fabric – a heavy-duty polyester fabric
and a ripstop fabric, a woven fabric made of nylon using a special reinforcing technique to make it resistant to tearing and ripping.
Lim noted that the BPHT is uniquely designed with two vertical
pockets. One vertical pocket in the front is small and could hold items
up to the size of an iPhone. The second vertical pocket on the left side is
bigger and “fits a lot more things” in it, the president/CEO said.
The BPHT also features a compartment that opens up in front and
contains a full organizer, as well as a large main compartment that
holds books, binders and more.
It also contains a media cable insert in which students could place
their headphones when listening to their music on an iPod or other media players.
School backpacks are available in black, orange, navy and pink. “It’s
one of our very colorful backpacks that we feature for college students,”
Lim said.
convenience BagS
The Doumi BP102P line features convenience, or packable, bags
that start off as small square bags that fit in the palm of your hand but
open up into either a tote bag or backpack.
Lim explained that the name “Doumi” comes from the Korean word
ave the ta-tas. You may have heard the phrase, but this witty saying
is actually the catalyst for an entire clothing line, three independent
cancer researchers, a college scholarship program, thousands of independent retailers, 250,000 Facebook fans and more than $650,000 donated to fight the war against cancer.
The ta-tas Brand and Save the Ta-tas Foundation were created by
fashion designer Julia Fikse as a way to fight breast cancer using laughter and fun. Formerly a designer for Jessica McClintock, Levi and adidas, Fikse started Save the ta-tas as the perfect combination of fashion
design and supporting a cause. This playful line of T-shirts and accessories includes messages such as “Save the ta-tas” and “Friends don’t let
friends lose ta-tas.”
These messages of hope and humor have reached thousands of victims and survivors of breast cancer and have helped them to fight the
disease with both strength and courage.
The ta-tas Brand has donated nearly 50 percent of its profits to the
cause over the last six years and to date, has donated more than $650,000
to fund the fight against cancer, including innovative cancer research.
This fall, the ta-tas Brand launches a new collection of long-sleeve
T-shirts to accompany a new short-sleeve collection. The fall collection
highlights bright colors, florals and abstract designs for the women’s
line. The men’s fall collection offers a sarcastic, vintage look with designs featuring slogans like “I ate the whole rack at… Bobby’s Blue’s
House & BBQ Nashville.” These new designs will accompany the “Save
the ta-tas” logo collection that continues to be a college favorite.
“Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate,” said Craig Kvinsland, sales director for the ta-tas Brand. “The company logo is featured on apparel
and accessories, so students know that when they buy and wear our
product, they know that money is being donated to breast cancer research and funding exciting new programs.”
The Save the Ta-tas Foundation is also excited to announce its second annual scholarship program. From now until Sept. 2, 2011, college students who are currently battling or who have battled cancer
could write an essay or submit a video describing their inspirational
story about their journey battling cancer and how they intend to use
their experience to help others. The Save the Ta-tas Foundation will be
awarding its scholarship winners this October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
—CSE
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAVE THE TA-TAS
meaning “anything that helps or
aids with any function,” such as
travel.
Doumi bags are made of a
very thin, very lightweight polyester fabric with a high-density
weave that Korus engineered to
make these bags more durable.
The tote bags and backpacks
in the Doumi line are available
in black and khaki.