By Logan Monteleone
News Editor
Anyone who has swung by the Casey Academic Center hoping for a new Washington College sweatshirt or looking to pick up their course materials as usual may have noticed that the bookstore has been closed in recent weeks.
The closure is due to cosmetic renovations in preparation for a new apparel store that will offer expanded WC merchandise options and more flexible hours on campus once it opens up shop later this semester.
In addition to the new merchandise provider, the College has began working with a new book provider, eCampus.com. Whereas Barnes & Noble was responsible for both WC merchandise and course material distribution, two new providers are being brought in to separate the tasks.
The College ended its around 20 year partnership with Barnes & Noble in June. The well-known provider was unwilling to respond to feedback about inventory and its relationship with the campus became “very one-sided,” Connell said.
University Gear Shop, the apparel company that has been chosen to take Barnes & Noble’s place, plans to work more closely with the College’s marketing team and to seek feedback from students through surveys.
“In the past, we received feedback that people weren’t thrilled with options in the bookstore,” Vice President for Marketing and Communications Brian Speer said. “So I think there are two things that we want to try to accomplish here; one is we want to make sure that we’ve got logo merchandise for the College, and then the other part is to make sure that we’ve got the kind of apparel and items that people want to see.”
Speer said that the marketing team is going to be able to work more closely with the provider to influence decisions about brand design.
“We’re going to get to see what is being proposed to go into the store and … there will be opportunities to collect feedback and make adjustments to make sure that we’re getting the right merchandise in there,” Speer said.
University Gear Shop’s store will have items available for purchase both online and in the bookstore space on campus. The new store will offer more designs and items to choose from, Connell said, and it will have pop-up sales at large social and sporting events on campus.
While the physical merchandise store is expected to open by early December, the online store is set to be available sooner, Connell said.
To replace the book-distributing function of the Barnes & Noble store, the College sent out a formal request for proposal process to a number of national providers. The fully online book provider eCampus.com was determined as the best option based on criteria regarding its plans for how to operate at WC.
Students will still be able to pick up physical materials ordered through eCampus, but the online company will not have its own space or in-person staff in the academic center like Barnes & Noble did. The book provider will have staff serving the College virtually.
“They do have a team that is dedicated to Washington College, so anytime we have one of these situations come up where, you know, a faculty member can’t find the textbook that they’re ordering for their class or a student can’t order the textbook … [eCampus’s] account management team has been very responsive in addressing those things,” Connell said.
There have been “minor fits and starts” to the launch of eCampus, Connell said, including issues with textbook availability and with shipping costs for students who had materials sent to their homes instead of the campus mailroom.
One of the options the eCampus service offers that differs from the previous website is allowing students to purchase used books that can be found for cheaper prices on alternate websites through the College’s platform. The option includes additional shipping costs, however, according to the “marketplace options” dropdown menu on the eCampus site.
The new price-matching option allows students to submit a request to receive a book through eCampus for the same price that it is found on sites including Amazon, Chegg, Barnes & Noble, and Akademos, according to the WC bookstore site. The price-matching option excludes discounted books and books found on secondhand sites.
The bookstore changes are unrelated to cost-saving efforts, Connell said, as Barnes & Noble’s contract with WC was up this June regardless and the College does not receive or lose much revenue from working with vendors like Barnes & Noble. The company was given the opportunity to re-bid for the space it formerly occupied on campus, but ultimately its contract was not renewed.
Students are encouraged to reach out to administration to give thoughts regarding the eCampus website and book-buying process.
Photo by Logan Monteleone
Photo Caption: The campus bookstore, located in the Casey Academic Center, will remain closed while the new apparel provider, University Gear Shop, prepares to move in later this semester and while the College adjusts to its new online book provider, eCampus.com.