This article first appeared in The George Street Observer on Thursday, Feb. 4. The article erroneously reported that Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc. purchased the College of Charleston's bookstore. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers was awarded a contract for management and operations of the bookstore. The College is the owner of the facility. Additionally, Jan Brewton was incorrectly cited as the Bookstore's manager. She is the Director of Business & Auxiliary Services for the College. Her office oversees the administrative and management activities for major service contracts, including the Bookstore, Copy Center, Cougar Card, Dining, Mail and Parking Services. Both of these errors have been corrected in this version of the article. The George Street Observer regrets the error and will run a formal retraction in the Feb. 11 issue.

Barnes & Noble College Booksellers was awarded the contract for management and operations of the C of C bookstore in November 2009, and will begin renovations in early March. The State of South Carolina contract was signed by Barnes & Noble and took effect in January.

C of C will receive a percent of the gross sales, and have laid out expectations for the chain, including set pricing for new and used books.
Barnes & Noble proposes to transform the C of C Bookstore into a comfortable, welcoming space, and said in their initial bid that seating and comfort will be important to the transformed store.

“I think Barnes & Noble is envisioning a more comfortable store,” said Jan Brewton, director of Business and Auxiliary Services.

The deal is not final, but Brewton said the College expects a revised proposal from the company early in February.

Creating an inviting space for students is just the beginning. The proposed plan involves rearranging most of the store, though the checkout counter will remain in its current location.

Barnes & Noble will move apparel and College souvenirs to a Cougar Spirit Shop area in the back of the store.

Brewton said removing clothing from the window would the store look more like a bookstore from the outside.

“Right now all you see from the front is clothes,” Brewton said. “I think part of it is for everyone to see that it is a bookstore.”

Barnes & Noble is discussing making coffee available, either complimentary or for sale, in the store, Brewton said. The College declined to put a Starbucks in the bookstore, as there is an existing Starbucks within a block of the store in both directions.

“They want people to feel comfortable, come in and have coffee,” Brewton said. “They want it to be a place to hang out.”

Sophomore bookstore employee Cassandra Jansch is looking forward to the comfort new ownership could bring to the store.
“I’m excited about it feeling more like a bookstore with the seating and everything,” Jansch said.

Brewton & Barnes and Noble might keep the store open later.

“I fully expect they’ll expand the hours until at least 7 p.m. once we see if the students gravitate to it,” Brewton said.

Brewton said Barnes & Noble’s size and resources would allow them to continue to stock as many used textbooks as possible.

Typically, used textbooks are unavailable when new editions publish or professors report the books they will require late.

“The best case for students is if their professor adopts the book early so the bookstore can get a jump on the used books,” Brewton said.

She also said publishers mandate textbook costs so they will not change with bookstore ownership.

Brewton said Barnes & Noble offered the College a larger commission rate for book sales than other bidders. A portion of the bookstore’s commission from sales goes into a College scholarship fund.

Online ordering and pickup of filled orders will remain largely the same. By July students should be able to register and order books on CougarTrail, Brewton said.

Students could place single orders or find information to order the book elsewhere.

Renovations in March will culminate in a grand reopening tentatively planned for April 15. Brewton said the store would remain open throughout the remodeling.

The C of C Bookstore offers Barnes & Noble a unique position in the Charleston community, Brewton said.

“It will be the first large bookstore in downtown Charleston,” Brewton said. “It’ll be really great for them to have that piece of it. They want to integrate into the community.”

C of C Marketing and Communications will provide pictures of the College for an interior mural to complete the design and make give the store a distinct C of C character, Brewton said.

“I think people will really have a recognition that this is the College of Charleston bookstore,” Brewton said.