<p>In general, what is the role of the bookstore on college campuses these days? With the advent of the internet age, are students still going to college/university bookstores to purchase their books, or is there a preference for ordering them online? Are bookstores, themselves, then, as visited as they once were? Either way, what do students do and what do they buy at the bookstore?</p>
<p>Logo wear. It would seem to me the $$$ for college stores in now in logo apparel, merchandise of the school. From key chains to hoodies, that seems to be what is flying out of the stores. We were on a college visit last week and even our tour guide mentioned that most people don’t use the bookstore for buying books but that it’s mostly done online. We were apparently one of the only families on the tour who has been down the book buying road before cause other families seemed shocked that you don’t just automatically buy books new from the school bookstore.</p>
<p>My daughter’s school bookstore still does a healthy business in textbooks. They sells lots of used books (some kids like to physically see used books before they buy them to see if there is highlighting etc.) They do the college swag (clothes, window decals, etc.) They sell those emergency items (aspirin, laundry detergent, snack foods, etc.) They sell school supplies (paper, pens, binders, etc.) They sell dorm supplies (linens, alarm clocks, mirrors, etc.) They even sell some best sellers. They sell some basic electronics (headphones, all sorts of chargers and adapters.)</p>
<p>Bookstores do a very brisk business on parents weekend.</p>
<p>At DS school they still sell a books, but logo wear and office supplies and snacks seem to be the main sellers. DS has gone there for lab books, graph paper, extra notecards, anything that was necessary immediately. The only other option in his town would be a 20 minute trip to Walmart, so he will pay a little extra. </p>
<p>You can rent books through the bookstore so that is helpful and the costs for books is often within $5 of Amazon.</p>
<p>I never bought anything but logo wear at my bookstore. I bought my books there the first semester and spent more than twice what I spent subsequent semesters on amazon.</p>
<p>I did once buy a coffee mug, for $20, because it seemed to be the only place in town that sold them. And note cards in an emergency, because it would be a bus ride to buy them somewhere cheaper. I tried to buy most of my supplies on amazon, too.</p>
<p>My university has a local organic cosmetic line of washes, moisturizers, and scrubs which I’m dying to purchase. They also have these organic snacks which are pretty tasty. Two floors are dedicated to logo wear and outdoor items. The “basement” is reserved for campus books. </p>
<p>Will I be going to that floor?</p>
<p>Nope.</p>
<p>The University of Chicago has a fairly unique set-up. There is an official university bookstore in the center of campus which is almost entirely tourist-oriented: clean, well-lighted, very few books, tons of official logo-wear and logo-tchatchkes, other impulse items. Then there is an independent co-op bookstore a few blocks from campus, the Seminary Co-Op, which is one of the great bookstores of the world and handles all the textbooks. It didn’t used to be clean or well-lighted; it was in the ancient basement of the Chicago Theological Seminary. But it recently moved to new, spiffy digs that are not as po’-faced.</p>
<p>One of the charming anachronisms about the University of Chicago is that physical books still matter. They just built a gigantic (impressive, beautiful) library addition so they could have the entire library collection on campus; no remote storage. And Hyde Park remains full of bookstores, none of which seems to be going away anytime soon. There’s a big Powell’s in addition to the Seminary Co-Op, and several independent and specialized stores as well.</p>
<p>^I use to frequent a bar near campus - don’t remember it’s name - but it had 100’s of reference books on all sorts of subjects behind the bar so when students argued about anything they would be able to look up the answer to see who was right.</p>