Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 11, 1994 TAG: 9402140327
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By JOANNE ANDERSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The Radford bookstore has lost more than $89,000 over the past four years, according to Bill Dalton, the university's director of business services. College officials looked at making some changes early in 1992.
"The financial picture was not as good as it should have been," Dalton said.
A management consulting firm studied the operation and made recommendations, such as contracting with outside management. Some changes were instituted, along with hiring an outside management team, but the store still did not perform in the best interests of the university and students, Dalton said.
Last fall, Radford officials decided to look at proposals to contract the whole bookstore operation to an experienced, outside retailer. Along with Barnes & Noble, responses were received from Follett and Wallaces' college bookstore companies. After visiting several college bookstores and negotiating proposal details, Barnes & Noble was chosen.
The company has offered all full-time bookstore employees continued employment with wages and benefits comparable to or better than what they have, said McDonald. This fact was confirmed by Dalton who said that some employees will go with Barnes & Noble, and others, particularly those with several years of state employment, are transferring to other jobs on campus.
Barnes & Noble is planning a $200,000 renovation of the facility, upgrading carpeting, bookshelves, the computer center and expanding the section of trade books - nonfiction publications with a more academic and scholarly bent, such as history and science books.
The book retailer also plans to increase the number of used textbooks. Missouri Book Services of Columbia, Mo., one of the largest dealers of used textbooks in the country, is owned by the privately-held Barnes & Noble enterprise.
Dalton said that students will benefit from having more used textbooks, the faculty will appreciate the expanded trade book section, and the university has a guaranteed financial return.
In addition to operating bookstores at Old Dominion University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Southwest Virginia Community College, Barnes & Noble owns B. Dalton, Scribner and Doubleday bookstores, Software Etc. stores and the new Barnes & Noble superstores, which carry 50,000-150,000 titles in stock. Of the approximately 150 superstores in the country, three are in Charlotte, N.C.
by CNB