Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Genre: Feature
Max’s is gone. Allegra and Sovereign have moved. City Sports replaced the GAP,
and Berk’s will expand in May. The Thayer Street retail district is evolving, and Brown
administration fears that the Brown Bookstore, whose last renovation was ten years ago,
lags behind. In response to such fears, on March 3 the Bookstore Review Committee
released a report recommending that the independent Brown Bookstore be outsourced to
Barnes and Noble College, Inc. (B&NCBI).
The Bookstore Review Committee was formed in early 2005, following a
recommendation by the President’s Cabinet. Headed by Beppie Huidekoper, executive
vice president for finance and administration, the committee consists of fourteen faculty,
students and staff. Over the past year and a half, the committee has conducted extensive
interviews with Brown Bookstore leadership, representatives of large corporations, and
Brown students, faculty, and staff. The committee has also complied industry data and
toured other university stores to present a comprehensive study of the current state of the
Brown Bookstore.
The bookstore review committee explored four options: to have the university
retain ownership, to partner with or sell to an independent bookseller, or to contract with
a large, specialty chain. After considering the benefits and drawbacks of all four options,
the committee ultimately decided that joining forces with a chain specializing in higher
education bookstores would best serve the bookstore’s evolution and recommended
B&NCBI as the university’s best option.
Tit-for-Tat
Harvard Sophomore Rajiv Venkataramanan, however, has no qualms with The
Coop, Harvard’s university bookstore that has been operated by B&NCBI since 1995.
“Books of all subjects can be found there, and if it’s not in their stock, they order it for
you within a very short amount of time,” he said.
The prices of those quick-to-order books are one of the central factors in the
decision to outsource, and many believe that B&NCBI’s larger pool of resources would
result in lower prices. However, past cases indicate that although B&NCBI may initially
promise lower prices, it will not necessarily that way. “While the current self-operated
Brown Bookstore charges their student-customers some of the lowest textbook prices in
the industry, Barnes & Noble College Booksellers consistenly charge their customers
more for their textbooks,” remarked John Melson, member and technical coordinator of
the SBC. “Barnes & Noble, Inc.,” he argues, “sells textbooks on their website,
www.bn.com, for less than what their sister company charges their university
clients. You can bet that when Barnes & Noble, Inc. finds itself competing with one of
its own university stores, Barnes & Noble will always win at the university's expense."
An additional concern among those that oppose the move to outsource the store is
the way in which such a move may affect the local economy. The corporation’s hunger
for profit might have detrimental effects on the local economy. “Studies have
demonstrated that retail chains often return substantially less money to the local economy
than locally owned businesses,” Nelson explained. “One study found that independent
bookstore in Austin, Texas…returned $45 of every $100 in sales to the local economy—
almost 3.5 times more than the average Borders," Melson explained.
In an October 2005 article in The Brown Daily Herald, Larry Carr, University
bookstore and services director, said that everyone at the bookstore desires “a bookstore
that…will enhance the Thayer Street retail district.” The article also noted that the
committee determined that one of the bookstore’s functions is “to have a welcoming
atmosphere for patrons and Thayer Street.”
Many residents and students, however, worry that outsourcing to a large chain
will detract from Thayer Street’s unique vibe. Jagdish, the owner of Spectrum, says that
each time a Starbucks or Gap popped up “the whole character of the street changed.”
Spectrum has seen IHOP and Gap enter and leave the building that now houses City
Sports, which speaks volumes about the community’s commitment to independently
owned stores. However, with no competition and an integral role in the university, a
B&NCBI Brown Bookstore may have the staying power that the Gap couldn’t muster.
Ultimately, it’s difficult to determine what would happen post-B&NCBI take
over. The corporation and the review committee say that a customized contract would
meet everyone’s needs, while the Save the Bookstore Coalition and its supporters believe
even contracts cannot prevent corporate America from taking over our alternative Brown
nation. The review committee recommended that both parties be given the opportunity to
voice their concerns and debate the pros and cons of outsourcing before the President’s
Cabinet holds a vote on the bookstore’s future in April or May.