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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2017 13:59:06 GMT -5
I don't know if this was in the works for a while or what, but Barnes and Noble no longer has the contract to run the bookstore on campus. Starting Monday, it's in Follett's hands. The same company handles La Salle College HS's bookstore.
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Post by SICguy84 on Jul 20, 2017 17:12:36 GMT -5
I've had some dealings with Follett. Very unimpressed. Books were all to be purchased online. And the less said about apparel the better.
Also what about the long time workers at the store and the student workers?
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Post by SICguy84 on Jul 29, 2017 11:09:34 GMT -5
Bumping. So what happens if someone wanted to order some merchandise online? Bookstore site has been offline for two weeks. I see no replacement Follette website. Lost profits on these sales that would have otherwise happened?
Also again what about the full time staff?
It's generally acknowledged that our apparel is limited and not really on par with the other city institution's merch. Does this change to another company help or hurt in this regard? I believe the other City 6 stores are affiliated with B&N.
What do the students say about online book buying?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2017 22:26:45 GMT -5
The less said about apparel the better, indeed. So far on the website they've thrown up ( www.bkstr.com/lasallestore/home) there isn't any apparel at all. At this point, I'm half tempted to brute force a solution there. No idea about student workers or the employees, but I'd assume they've been offered positions. Student bookstore workers are often on a work-study thing, so it's in everyone's interests to continue that. I too would have preferred continuity with the current vendor, but I assume La Salle was made a better offer from Follett. Villanova uses the same vendor, but the other City 6 schools use B&N College. St. Joes links to Follett's bookstore, but has a page that 404s.
Also I should point out I don't have any insider knowledge here, I just happened to be on campus the day they were switching over because I needed to do some returns to the bookstore. If you have any other questions, I can try to ask them when I'm on campus Tuesday. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2017 13:54:33 GMT -5
The current situation is apparently in flux as others have pointed out there are unanswered questions. Did anybody call the bookstore line and get through to a person?
I would also recommend a wait and see approach, though it is tempting to point to balls being dropped especially because there does not seem to be PR to get out in front of the transition as it affects faculty, alums, and incoming students other than the active new link to buy books.
I will be curious to know if this shift is projected to be beneficial for the university because they shopped around and got a better contract, or if it happened in spite of university's efforts to retain B&N??? Remember, before B&N took the helm these were university employees that worked under the bleachers at the football stadium to move books and merch seasonally. So B&N while it had its drawbacks, also increased the volume of sales, visibility on campus, and provided SOME online presence, and follett is not going to lose ground in the long run where there are opportunities to sell merch they should ramp them up.
Comparisons to Follett brands at high schools, other universities even, does not guarantee improvement or decline in quality because - while anecdotal data is interesting - there is a chance someone advocated better/worse for La Salle for maintaining or expanding upon the existing set-up during the negotiating process. We would hope there were additional concessions made by follett and not ground lost by La Salle or its constituents. For example, is La Salle's implementation of food services better than worse than other schools that have same provider? It's in many ways different because we have a different budget/enrollment which could very well dictate a different level of service than let's say a West Chester size or high school would. The same premise
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2017 0:11:12 GMT -5
Without having visited in person recently, all I can say for certain is that the online presence is as anemic as B&N College's offerings, but with a less polished interface. There also seems to be minimal attention to detail. Consider the La Sacremento State hat
 Or the UMass Lowellsalle hat
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 10:26:29 GMT -5
Without having visited in person recently, all I can say for certain is that the online presence is as anemic as B&N College's offerings, but with a less polished interface. There also seems to be minimal attention to detail. Consider the La Sacremento State hat
Sold out, already! Darn. Yes, this is a pretty poor rollout even if it is last minute, they're missing countless revenue opportunities. And some of my friends will say "That's La Salle for you" and that doesn't even take into consideration what OTHER schools think of us! |
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Post by jellybean on Aug 25, 2017 13:02:37 GMT -5
Is this for real?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 15:12:30 GMT -5
I should have used our protocol sarcasm font. I'm almost never serious though. Maybe you can give me a serious font for when I'm telling the truth.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 15:14:57 GMT -5
I tried visting the bookstore on Friday. They were not open regular hours yet, so I was unable to get in and browse. All I saw was a welcome back sign, very plain black and white, and a we're hiring sign, similarly nondescript.
To the extent that I always thought the B&N presence was never over the top, but was only really branded in the way they handled point of sale system (bn.com printed on a receipt, maybe) and selling/accepting gift cards, this new bookstore seems concerned with fitting in without making its identity known. (Unsure if this is part of the contract or the way they prefer to operate.)
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Post by coqui900 on Aug 26, 2017 10:53:25 GMT -5
Just was at the new bookstore. It looks fine. Same selection of clothes.
However, I was there to get a textbook for my MBA class. Wasn't available because, according to the kid at the bookstore, professors had to use a new ordering system. Some profs handbooks lined up but not everyone did.
Sigh. #ExplorersAreSometimesLost
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 7:31:57 GMT -5
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