The National Association of College Stores (NACS) Board of Trustees recently announced that Campus Market Expo (CAMEX) 2011 in Houston, Texas would return to its original five-day format.

A majority of NACS members who filled out evaluations for CAMEX 2010 in Orlando, Fla. expressed displeasure at the shortened version, which featured four hours less of education sessions and 21.5 tradeshow hours, compared to 23 tradeshow hours in 2009.

NACS Board of Trustees President Carol Miller, CCR, director, North Dakota State University (NDSU) Bookstore, said members lost just 1.5 hours of time on the trade show floor, but that was enough for many to react negatively.

“People felt like it was a lot more than that, and perception is reality,” she said. “I think the board, in good faith, was trying to be sensitive to the financial situation with members. We tried it and people didn't like it as well, so we're going back.

Barnes & Noble announced that it has developed an integrated software solution for the higher-education market.

The free software application, called NOOKstudy, is a study tool that allows students to manage all their digital content — eTextbooks, class materials and notes — on the computing device they rely on most, whether it is their PC or Mac.

NOOKstudy, developed with input from students and higher-education institutions, delivers a digital reading experience and is the first digital textbook application that enhances the academic experience through customizable study features.

“NOOKstudy is a big win for college students as it will not only lighten their backpacks, but also help them save money and study more,” said Tracey Weber, executive vice president, Textbooks and Digital Education, Barnes & Noble.com. “NOOKstudy is a new approach to learning that offers students access to the reading and organizational tools they need, across all content sources and formats, enabling them to study smarter, not harder.”

The University Book Exchange (UBE), a family owned and operated business founded in 1968 in Greenville, N.C., to serve the needs of students, faculty and alumni of East Carolina University (ECU), offers a wide array of emblematic apparel in its 3,000-square-foot sportswear store.

According to UBE Operations Manager Yvonne B. Perry, the store is on the facility's ground level surrounded by the art supply store and the school supplies store.

“We made a decision to have our sportswear store on one level for easier handicap accessibility and better merchandising opportunities,” she noted. “Previously, we had our tailgating and apparel section segregated, and by bringing it together on one floor, it will hopefully increase our sales on our novelty and gift items.”

Follett Higher Education Group and Blackboard Inc. recently announced a partnership that gives students the ability to purchase and use digital textbooks directly in Blackboard Learn — a platform for delivering learning content, engaging learners and measuring their performance — with a free integration that brings interactive texts into the course experience.

The integration streamlines the way instructors assign texts and the ease with which students can access and use them. It also provides access to Follett's CaféScribe, an e-textbook and social networking platform that gives students and instructors the ability to read, highlight, annotate, share notes and form campus and worldwide study groups among a range of CaféScribe features that make digital texts more interactive.

““The addition of this kind of academic technology helps students and faculty dedicate more time to coursework and less time to negotiating various technologies,”” said Paul E. Fisher Jr., director, Teaching, Learning and Technology Center, Seton Hall University. ““This kind of collaboration helps us give students options according to their own learning styles, study skills and efficiencies, while at the same time helping to lower or keep steady the total cost of their education.”

With the fall semester fast approaching, college bookstores are being stocked with all the supplies that students will need, such as notebooks, writing instruments, planners, binders, laptops and backpacks.

Stores will also need to restock shelves after the rush period, providing a one-stop-shopping destination for students throughout the semester.

As colleges and universities across North America prepare for the fall frenzy, College Store Executive takes a look at some of the newer products that stores will feature for students to purchase.

 

Pure Orange recently introduced a line of custom mouse pads specifically geared for the college market, in time for the fall semester. Anthony van Houten, operations,

Pure Orange, noted that the custom mouse pads are made of a long-lasting specially woven microfiber fabric, which “stands up to everyday wear and tear.”

Royal Philips Electronics has introduced five new models of its Voice Tracer 600 Series – a range of lightweight, ergonomic devices for recording notes and conversations.

The recorders feature Philips ClearVoice technology, which allows students to play back recorded information with superior audio quality. Its low-noise microphone is capable of capturing every idea during a classroom lecture.

Ticonderoga Renew pencils are made of recycled tires.

One of the most essential school supplies students will have on their back-to-school shopping list for the fall semester is writing instruments.

Taking notes in class, writing essays and filling in Scantron sheets during exams are just a small sampling of the functionality that writing tools provide for college students.

Bookstores will be stocked with the standard pens and pencils during fall rush, as well as some of the newer models with enhanced comfort and design in mind.

As the fall semester commences, College Store Executive takes a look at some of the newer pens and pencils that truly possess the “write” stuff for students' needs.

As the demand for textbook rental programs in college bookstores increases, the impact on students' wallets is expected to decrease.

One of the basic tenets behind stores implementing rental programs is to help students save money by renting a new or used textbook, rather than buy a book at the full retail price or get a minimal return at buyback.

In addition, textbook rentals can increase margins and allow stores to retain market share and compete with other available options, such as renting online. Most importantly, more students will walk into stores to rent their textbooks for the semester.

In the second of a two-part series, College Store Executive spoke with representatives from point-of-sale (POS) companies to discover the different types of rental program solutions they provide for stores to take advantage of the textbook rental craze.

Budgetext is ramping up its textbook rental program within its store system in order to make things “simple” for college bookstores.

“We put together a rental program, not Budgetext itself, but in the store system as a group,” said Tresa Hannah, systems sales and service manager. “Budgetext, as a company, is not running the textbook rental program. It's an actual program built into our store systems package. This is not a company-sponsored rental program.”

South Eastern Book Co. will roll out its textbook rental program to bookstores at 50 schools in the fall.

Kenny Roth, president, South Eastern Book Co., said the company is confident that the new program will go “as seamless as possible. We want to bring more money back into the stores.”

MBS Textbook Exchange, Inc. recently introduced a solution for college bookstores looking to jump into the textbook rental craze with the launch of MBS Rental.

The MBS Rental program kicked off at the Campus Market Expo (CAMEX) in March in Orlando, Fla., and thus far, more than 500 member stores have signed on in advance of the official launch in the 2010 fall semester.

“The reason we came up with the program is that rental is the hottest topic we have right now in our industry,” said Lil Howard, MBS corporate marketing representative. “That is what the students want, so how can we help stores get into that rental market?”

Jim Zaorski, CEO, Sequoia Retail Systems, notices the trend by new companies and established wholesalers to rent books as a challenge to bookstores.

“If stores do not offer a rental solution, they will abandon this business, losing profits and customer loyalty,” he noted.

Zaorski added that book rentals will make fewer used books available at buyback, so stores may no longer be able to rely on their wholesalers to get them the used books they need.

Total Computing Solutions offers a textbook rental module called SmartRental for stores to compete with other textbook buying opportunities available, including the Internet.

SmartRental had been beta tested since November 2009, and was officially introduced in March at the Campus Market Expo (CAMEX) in Orlando, Fla.

Senior Account Executive Steve Winters explained that SmartRental allows students to rent textbooks, as well as general merchandise. It is tied into the company's other SmartSuite modules, including SmartText, the textbook management module; SmartPOS, the point-of-sale (POS) module; and SmartGM, the general merchandise module.

“It provides real-time information and allows the student to rent a book, vs. purchasing it,” he explained. “The upfront cost is greatly reduced by renting.”

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