The Zag Shop, where Gonzaga students have long purchased textbooks and merchandise to proudly display their school pride, recently changed management.
The bookstore, which was run by Gonzaga, is now being operated by an independent company, Illinois-based Follett Higher Education Group. Now, it may seem strange to have an out-of-state entity running a campus bookstore based in Washington, but it could end up being quite practical, for both the University and its students.
Follett took over operations in early June and has since been busy selling old merchandise at clearance prices and reordering shelves to prepare for new stock and the upcoming academic year.
The arrangement between Follett and Gonzaga, while seemingly unconventional, is hardly unique. Maintaining an independent bookstore can be quite expensive for universities, so many have turned to private companies to handle the ever-evolving world of educational texts and merchandise. Follett, for example, manages bookstores for more than 900 colleges and universities across North America.
In addition to being able to offer GU students affordable prices on an assortment of supplies and branded apparel, Follett provides flexible options when it comes to textbooks. Traditional buy-back options of new and used books will be improved, but students can also rent textbooks, both in hard copy and through digital sources or e-texts.
“Since 2009, we’ve saved students over $300 million just in rentals,” Elio DiStaola, Follett’s director of public and campus relations, told The Spokesman-Review recently.
Follett currently operates both the bookstore in the COG and the Zag Shop on Boone at Ruby. When construction is completed on the new retail and parking complex, the two stores will be combined into a 15,000-square-foot store on Cincinnati between Boone and DeSmet.