Editorial: Bookstore stays independent, with good reason

It took almost eight months of deliberation to determine something Seattle University should have already known: It has a good independent bookstore.

When university administrators announced they were considering outsourcing the bookstore spring quarter of 2009, the initial statements were practically already making way for a Follett or Barnes & Noble to be on campus by fall quarter 2009.

Among the reasons for examining an outsourced bookstore were improved customer service, affordable prices and the all-important cost-effective business model.

But according to a report by Campus Bookstore Consulting, Seattle University's Bookstore delivers well in all of those areas.

Students have a moderate to high level of satisfaction with the store; it has a comprehensive used selection that is above the industry average and reduces cost to students; and besides bringing in more than $500,000 a year for the university, it also contributes $400,000 through scholarships, discounts and donations.

It took a rather cost-ineffective process involving a paid consultant and employees' time to realize what bookstore manager Bob Spencer had been trying to show the university right from the beginning.

Wasted money aside, the focus on the bottom line does not fit with Seattle University's values and mission.

Those values did come out of the uproar against outsourcing though. The response from concerned students and faculty turned what could have been a steamrolled decision to outsource into a dialogue. It's not all the time that we Seattle U students come together about a potential change in university policy.

But the bookstore discussion should not stop here; there is still room for improvement.
Spencer told The Spectator yesterday the bookstore should show visible improvements in the next year, including the possibility for a Nike concept store. Here, too, is an opportunity for dialogue this community should not pass up, as Nike products have been banned from university purchase because of the company's labor practices.

Thanks to community engagement, Seattle University still has an independent bookstore to be proud of.

Reach the editorial board at opinion@su-spectator.com.