2008 Woodie Awards
Bookstore business soars despite competition, prices
Adam Tamburin
Issue date: 8/21/08 Section: News
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When checkout costs run into the hundreds, some students make a habit of tracking down textbooks through online retailers that offer a cheaper product.
Freshman Becky Wissman bought her books through the bookstore this year, but said she will be going through alternative online retailers in the future.
"It's cheaper and I think I can do it on my own," she said.
While the amount of grumbling might suggest otherwise, Schneider said the competition has not affected the bookstore's business in her 15 years on the job.
In fact, she said, "our business has increased [every year]."
"I understand the impulse [to pursue outside options]," SLU Bookstore Textbook Manager Tricia Polley said.
Still, she believes that the personal service offered in the bookstore trumps the bargains offered elsewhere. She warns that some students are misled while buying books from online retailers or mistakenly get the wrong book. While online retailers might not offer support in those situations, "we're human beings here," she said. "We can make [mistakes like] that right."
Freshman Lowell Daniels, whose haul cost him hundreds of dollars, said he would stick with the SLU Bookstore because of the uneven service of online retailers.
"I'll just deal with [the cost]," he said. "The campus bookstore is a trusted location."
Polley attributes the consistent increase in business to the unique service the bookstore provides that outside retailers are lacking. Some of those benefits include the return policy that allows students to exchange their books for the full cost until Sept. 2.
For the fourth year, students looking to avoid the crowds were able to order their books through the bookstore's Web site and have them boxed and waiting upon their arrival on campus. Schneider said this initiative wasn't purely an effort to fight other online retailers.
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