New Bookstore

people really buy books from the bookstore?

  1. they’re free at the library. if it’s not in the library, request it through interlibrary loan from a librarian.
  2. internet.

[QUOTE=C49er;424629]Did anyone ever find out the hours? I’m esp interested in the bookstore.[/QUOTE]

http://aux.uncc.edu/bookstore/

I went today, the whole student union was open, guess it’s just the ribbion cutting type ceremony later, but it was so nice, the new dinning hall is AMAZING, the whole building was really, went into the movie theater, it was nice. Saw the new food court with wendys and einstien begals, didnt see much of the third floor but i walked away impressed

Bookstore was nice, had good selection of new gear wich was nice probably hit that up later this week

Good news on the hours. You can go a little early to a game and it will be open. If they want to sell stuff to alumni, that’s the way to do it.

Not sure if this was already posted:

[B]NEW HOURS starting August 31st:[/B]
M-Th 7:30-9 / Fri 7:30-6 / Sat 10-5 / Sun 12-5

[B]Hours until August 31st:[/B]

[LIST]
[]Mon-Fri 8/10-14:8-5
[
]Sat/Sun 8/15-16:closed
[]M/T/W 8/17-19:8-5
[
]Th/Fr 8/20-21:8-7
[]Sat 8/22:10-7
[
]Sun 8/23:12-7
[]Mon-Th 8/24-27:7:30am-9pm
[
]Fri 8/28:7:30am-6pm
[]Sat 8/29:10-5
[
]Sun 8/30:12-7
[/LIST]

I’ve dusted this thread off because we’ve talked a lot in the shoutbox about how disappointing selection, pricing and online options are at the Barnes&Noble’s ran Team Store.

Here’s the email I sent to our athletics department about it:

Blockquote

I wanted to touch base with you and see if you could point me in the right direction on who to talk to about our woeful Team Store. Last Spring, after we beat the #4 Arkansas Razorbacks, I looked at the online store to see if I could purchase a baseball jersey. I had seen them in the team store in the Student Union before and thought surely they’d be for sell online, it is 2018 after all. It was not available online.

I have spoken with attendants in the actual store before and was told that most of the merchandise in the store wasn’t available for sell online. I was told that I’d need to call to see what they had if I didn’t want to come in (and pay the $5 Union Deck parking fee) and see for myself. The general impression I got was that calling would be a hassle for them, but they’d do it. I find this to be highly unusual in the modern era. If anything the online presence should EXCEED the physical store. There is no real reason that almost every item for sell in the bookstore can’t be available online for purchase.

In another example, today my wife went into the bookstore to look for clothes for our toddler for the upcoming season. She found nothing for children over 12 months old. She also stated that a good portion of the upper floor of the bookstore that had previously featured Niner apparel and merchandise had been converted for other usage, and that she couldn’t find any tailgating supplies at all, which had been available there in the past. At the start of football season that seems almost willfully negligent.

I know that our contract with Barnes & Nobles comes up for renewal before March of 2019, and as a former student and current athletic supporter I’d like to express my dissatisfaction with their selection, effort, and online presence for athletics related merchandise with someone who will be involved with the contract renewal. Clearly Barnes & Nobles should stick to what they know, selling books, and not have so much control over 49er Athletics Merchandising.

I have placed links below for just one category, T-shirts, to our online store and two peer institutions (athletics wise). ECU has 213 available T-shirts for sell and App. St. has 147 compared to our meager 74. The website for our team store also looks incredibly dated compared to the other two websites, and I have seen far better sports merchandise website designs than these two. These are just a few examples of how I believe Barnes and Nobles has greatly mismanaged our Team Store.

If you could point me to someone who can take my complaint or forward this email to them I would be grateful.

Sorry for ranting, but with so many things heading in a positive direction for the Niners now, I’d hate to see this one get overlooked.

Blockquote

Since we know the contract with B&N is up this coming March, now is the time to let the Athletic Department know how you feel about their lackluster performance over the past decade.

1 Like

Good job

Got an encouraging response to this email. I think we can continue to expect the Hill lead AD to be more responsive to fan issues than what we had previously been used to.

If you have corroborating incidences to add to this topic, please make the folks in the AD aware of them.

I emailed the AD basically saying, “what @49RFootballNow said”, received this response:

Good timing. I just responded to this well-thought out letter and have shared it with some of the appropriate people on our campus.

With today being College Colors Day, our partners from IMG College Licensing are on-campus as well and we spent some time talking with them about a broad strategy that would help us in addressing manufacturing, retail and marketing – inclusive of the Bookstore, but with a strong push in University City as well.

We have a lot of work to do in this area – but our brand deserves it!

Please continue to hold us accountable.

Best Regards,

2 Likes

I am feeling all tingly! Thanks for doing this guys.

:heart_eyes::star_struck::sunglasses:

1 Like

And we WILL…WE WILL!!!

Sounds like a Judy Rose/Chapel Hill Phil response!!
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

**edited to point out that yes…that was sarcasm at it’s highest level

Yeah the lack of online versus brick and mortar is backwards. You should have a much larger online presence. Many smaller universities that I work with only have online merchandise. I think you could do away with a clothing and apparel store if you combined online with walk up access during key events such as athletic events, student move in week, rush, etc… It takes a little more planning and organization, but the cost of running an on campus store is probably high for as often as it is used. It is encouraging to see that the University appears to be more forward thinking.

clt says we should partner with amz

Went to the bookstore before the game- what a joke. They were out of Large in almost everything. Almost everything was black or gray.

I try to go to the bookstore before the start of every football season, and can say with confidence that they really didn’t seem to give a F this year. Nothing new/interesting in stock. Same ole generic looking clothes. Terrible hat selection. <1% of what they have for sale is worth buying. Another 15% would be worth buying if it weren’t overpriced. Barnes/Noble absolutely deserves to lose their right to manage the store from a merchandising standpoint. The on-campus store should overwhelm and inspire you. Charlotte’s decided to go in the opposite direction. It’s a complete failure - and definitely not worth the parking fee you’re forced to endure to check it out.

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Maybe athletics can branch off from the bookstore. Create their own “team store” at the football stadium and Halton. Go with another online store (Fanatics?) B&N is trash for university bookstores. Only care about shareholders not the university, students, alum.

1 Like

I’d imagine that is what Hill would like to do as well. Gators work with Fanatics as well. Don’t think this is allowed under our current agreement with B&N.