The Collegian
Thursday, March 28, 2024

It's always 'A great time to be a Spider' at the bookstore

Students rush by the University of Richmond bookstore every day on the way to their next class, study session or appointment, but there's a lot more to the location than elaborate window displays and Spider gear.

The bookstore officially opened in 1976 with the completion of Tyler Haynes Commons. Before, there was a store for Westhampton College and a store for Richmond College, with both located on their respective sides of the lake. In the past 20 years, the bookstore has gone from primarily textbook sales to primarily clothing and gift sales.

"Textbook sales have been down about 11 percent every year for the past few years," said Roger Brooks, the general manager who has been working at the bookstore since 1980. "This is due mostly to sites like Amazon. But clothing sales keep going up."

Brooks said that in the early '70s and '80s, there was not much variety with the merchandise--the same three or four shirts were sold every year. Debbie Matze, who purchases the clothing and gifts for the bookstore, said that now, it has become a demand for a college bookstore to have variety.

Matze selects the newest styles of clothing and gifts from vendors who come in and show their lines, which are based off of focus groups done with different age groups and college students every year.

"We've been very fortunate to have the vendors that we do," Matze said. "Especially because of the time in which we live now--things are hot one second, and then they're not the next."

Matze said that sweatshirts were probably the most popular item at the bookstore, especially the crewneck and the quarter-zip styles this year. Nike, Under Armour and Vineyard Vines items are also very well liked among students and student athletes. The big new item this year was the pinny, and Matze said that there were will be an even better, updated version coming soon.

Brooks and Matze said that business on the website and in the store increased when athletic teams were successful, when students received their acceptance letters, during accepted students events and around the holiday season.

"If an athletic team is doing well, so will the store," Brooks said.

The bookstore works closely with the athletic department, and Brooks said they often bounced ideas back and forth with each other. The t-shirt at the bookstore that reads, "It's a great time to be a Spider" originated in the athletics department.

Most of the other designs and logos are pre-made by vendors or companies, and then Matze and Brooks modify and adjust them. The university, Brooks said, is pretty strict with what can and can't be put on university merchandise.

One of the least popular items at the bookstore is the greeting card. Matze said that they were very flatline and took up a lot of space, but were something a bookstore needed to have.

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One item that will be returning in the future is the camouflage baseball hat, Matze said, along with some new neon gear.

Contact reporter Anika Kempe at anika.kempe@richmond.edu

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