Advocacy Articles

Knowledge is Power!
By Mark Palmore, Executive Director and Institutional Store Advocate

This is the first of a two part series on Promoting the Value of Your Self-Op College Store.

College stores can survive decades of change.  However, survival will not be possible without promoting the great things your store does for your institution.  Make sure your key decision makers know the value of your knowledge and how your store is truly an asset to your school!

Recently, I had the opportunity to moderate a Nebraska Book Company Webinar on “Promoting the Value of Self-Op College Stores.”  During the presentation we discussed various points regarding the value of the institutional store and how important it is to get the clear message out to your administration.  This article is just a small part of that presentation.  For more detailed information, you can view the slides and the Webinar at www.nebook.com, click on the “Knowledge is Power” icon and go to Webinar Session#2 to view and download the presentation.

The first part of the Webinar discusses the reality that the institutional/self-op model is still the preferred way to operate college stores.  Although 30% of stores are leased and 19% are private, 51% are institutional/self-op stores.  There are many reasons this is the case and will continue to be the preferred model.  One of the most compelling is the personal attention and commitment to students and faculty that only a local store can provide.  You are the bookstore expert on your campus.  Only you know your campus and the needs of your students, faculty and staff; and you listen!  By staying institutional/self-op you and your staff can address the needs of your customers for the good of your local institution and the students you serve.  You control the customer service levels, the product assortment, the pricing, and all of the policies.  However, though local management is one of the keys to success, you can not operate your store in a vacuum.

Benchmark your store against other stores with similar student body demographics.  This data will enable you to take objective external information to evaluate your store and upgrade your operating procedures.  Best of all, you don’t have to do all of the benchmarking research yourself.  It has been done and it is available to you as a member in the 2006 NACS College Store Industry Financial Report. 

If you haven’t already, we urge you to participate in the NACS College Store Industry Financial Survey.  Use the information gathered in the annual report to help you improve your store.  For more information, or to get a copy of the report, contact Julie Traylor at NACS.

There is so much more to learn from the resources you have available to you as a member of Connect2One and NACS.  Use your resources to improve your store and its value to your campus.  Remember, Knowledge is Power!!

Note: The second part of this series (in The Connection - December 2006) we will discuss the importance of the quarterly and annual reports and how they can show your administration the value of your store in their terms, by the numbers.