December is an especially busy month. Although finding a time for an event can seem impossible, an end-of-the-year boost in sales is too important to pass up. This year, why not try a simple event that is a little bit different than what you have done in the past? Jolabokaflod.
What do you do to set your store apart and connect with students? Do you have an annual event everyone looks forward to attending? Has your store hosted an event that went over really well with students? We would love to share your story with our readers!
The Community College of Rhode Island has four bookstore locations that make servicing students their number one priority. Using their years of expertise they field questions about all aspects of college life. Throughout the day staff members are helping students understand how to use their financial aid in the store or showing a student how to find their way through the campus. Like many college stores, they are more than a bookstore — they are the heartbeat of the campus.
Topics: college store stories, bookstore events
In an effort to drive more traffic into their store and away from online retailers during rush, the staff at UC Davis Stores was struggling to come up with ideas that would meet those goals. Last year, they tried giving away t-shirts to entice students to come visit the store, which worked in the sense that that event was popular, but ultimately came up short of expectations when the store underestimated its audience and ran out of shirts in about 10 minutes. Back to the drawing board.
Topics: Higher Ed, bookstore events, bookstores
When the new Passport Center in the University of New Mexico Bookstore launched with a “soft opening” in April, a few weeks before its grand opening in May, no one was sure how much business it would attract. The UNM Global Education Office, which runs the center in partnership with the bookstore, kept hours and staff to a minimum.
The University of Maryland Baltimore County Bookstore finds new ways to engage customers. Knowing the industry is changing, and students have more options, UMBC Bookstore Director Bob Somers challenges his team to think outside the box and keep customers coming through the doors.
You don’t need to live at 221B Baker Street to love a good mystery. As the semester winds to a close, it is a busy time for everyone on campus. Keep this month’s event simple, engaging and easy to manage with one or all of these ideas for a terrific Mystery May event designed to bring people into your store without taking up a lot of time.
Topics: bookstore events, adoptions, cost savings
Part of working in higher education is spending a good portion of each day trying to solve problems. What if you could address the concerns of faculty, staff and students while building your school’s relationship with its publishing partners, vendors and wholesalers — in just one event? It sounds too good to be true, but that’s what Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, recently did.
With the course materials industry ever-changing and recognizing a segment of her business was no longer profitable, Wartburg Store Manager and Textbook Services Director Janet Huebner saw an opportunity; replacing her trade books section with … board games.
Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, boasts an enrollment of just under 2,400 and no official school mascot. Deanna Casterton, Director of Luther College Book Shop, sought to change the status quo by creating and naming a mascot for her store with the Nutty Election Day Celebration.
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