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:
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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.
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