Barnes, Noble to take over WSU ‘Bookies’

Sometimes you need to call in the big guns.

Bookseller giant Barnes and Noble will take over day-to-day operations of Washington State University bookstores in Pullman and other campuses, including WSU Spokane, beginning July 1.

WSU announced Wednesday a 10-year contract with Barnes and Noble College Booksellers, a division of the retailer’s main operation. Barnes and Noble manages bookstores on 350 campuses nationally, including Seattle Pacific University and three Seattle area community colleges. They also operate a bookstore at Albertson College of Idaho.

As part of WSU’s contract, the current book discount prices will remain the same, but Barnes and Noble guaranteed the bookstore a specified rate of return, said Barry Johnston, director of business services and WSU controller . Johnston said he was not allowed to disclose contract specifics, but added that purchasing power of the large chain made them stand out.

“They kept our textbook prices the lowest in the country, yet provided a guaranteed minimum return to the (student-owned bookstore) corporation,” Johnston said.

“It is important to note that the students will continue to own the Bookie,” said board chairwoman Ashley Lund, a WSU student, in a prepared statement.

The bookstore, known as The Bookie, was founded by students in 1914. In 1947, they entrusted their corporation to the university’s Board of Regents. The students still own the bookstore, which is run by a board of nine, including five students.

“We believe that contracting with Barnes and Noble will improve the returns to retained earnings, improve the return to students while ultimately resulting in lower textbook prices to students,” Lund said.

Johnston said he was skeptical early on about Barnes and Noble.

“There were many of us who were doubters. This has been a long, drawn-out process,” Johnston said. Preparations in asking for bids to manage the bookstore began February of 2003. “Many of us thought no one could do it better, faster or cheaper,” Johnston said.

Seven board members flew to five different stores to investigate Barnes and Noble’s bookstores on college campuses. Two others did research by phone. When board members met to share any concerns revealed in their research with how Barnes and Noble handles other campus bookstores, no one had anything bad to say.

“It was 100 percent satisfaction,” Johnston said.

What really sealed the deal was the guaranteed rate of return while maintaining current prices.

“We’ve had some pretty serious fluctuations in returns,” Johnston said.

In the fall of 1996, a small group of WSU students protested the Pullman bookstore’s high prices and lack of student control.

Bookstore profits were reported in previous news stories as $564,000 in 1995, with $70,000 going to student government with the remainder staying at the bookstore. More recent figures were not available; however, Johnston said earnings have declined in recent years.

“Current management has done a great job,” Johnston said. “Barnes and Noble typically goes into places to clean things up. That’s not the case here. They are here to take us to the next level.”

Without going into specifics, Johnston said there were lots of retail opportunities that have not been pursued in Bookie markets, including the Spokane store near the Riverpoint Higher Education campus on Trent Avenue.