The new term is right around the corner, and with it thousands of students around the country will be making the same decision: should they shop with their campus bookstore, or should they take a risk on a third party?
Topics: back to college, sales strategies
The new term is right around the corner, and with it thousands of students around the country will be making the same decision: should they shop with their campus bookstore, or should they take a risk on a third party?
Topics: college store stories
When Nick Offerman came to the University Book Store at the University of Wisconsin-Madison last month to promote his new book, his fans were excited, to say the least. “We told everyone they could pick up their tickets at 7:30 the morning of the reading, but we had people waiting long before that,” Marketing Supervisor Erin Lambert said. “The first row was filled up with hardcore fans from about 9 a.m. onward, even though the reading didn’t start till 12.”
Topics: college store stories, faculty relations
Instead of sending out the same emails to faculty that they use every year, Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., has chosen to go a different route. Last summer, they decided to create and distribute about 350 “Focus on Faculty” folders in an effort to educate their professors on the role they play in the success of the bookstore. And after last year’s folders went over well, Book Manager Hannah Wallace decided to distribute them again this fall.
You and your staff know all the ways you try to provide cost-savings in the bookstore. But do your students or the campus? Probably not. Maybe they have some vague idea, but rare is the student that is fully aware of all the ways you help them save and has not bought into the myth that college bookstores are wildly overpriced. So with that in mind, we want you to get out there and educate them; show them what they don’t know!
For the University of Utah Campus Store, "Big Data" is a lot more than a buzzword. Store Assistant Director Vaughn Durfee knows how important that data is to effectively running the store. Taking advantage of MBS Systems Dashboard, Vaughn uses his store's Big Data including inventory, operations and sales figures to develop strategies for scheduling staff, manage inventory and much more.
Topics: mbs announcements, booklog
As the college retail industry continues to change, the independent college store is still the primary source for course materials for higher education learners in North America.
Topics: college store stories
This fall, the students at the University of Central Missouri will have an entirely new shopping experience. On August 10, the University Store’s second location will open in The Crossing, a $42 million mixed-use facility just one block away from the current store, just north of the football stadium.
Topics: social responsibility, mbs announcements
MBS is dedicated to its employees and to celebrating diversity. That's why, during our company barbecue June 13, we took some time out to honor the 61 men and women who have earned their United States citizenship since coming to work with us.
Creating fans for life is something every store would love to do. It provides an enthusiasm and continued support that lasts longer than four to six years, and it can help bolster enrollment numbers in the future.
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