Despite the challenges facing college and prep-school stores, which have been steadily losing market share to online retailers, the mood at this year’s 89th annual National Association of College Stores’s Campus Market Expo, which opened in Salt Lake City on March 2 and winds down today, was decidedly upbeat. According to NACS spokesperson Charles Schmidt, the show, which usually draws between 6,000 and 7,000 college store buyers and exhibitors experienced a 10% bump in attendance. Nearly 700 exhibitors, from textbook publishers to tee-shirt manufacturers, office supply companies, and the U.K. cosmetics company Boots, which will partner with college stores in the coming year, occupied more than 140,000 sq. ft. in the Salt Lake Palace Convention Center.
Even those who arrived at Salt Lake worried about the state of textbook sales, which for many stores comprise 69% of store sales overall, found it hard not to be optimistic after two-days of educational sessions on social media, merchandising, and rental. Life is good® cofounder Bert Jacobs sounded an optimistic note at a Mega Session at which he simultaneously taught the audience how to catch a Frisbee and told the story of how he and his brother John went from living in a car and selling tee-shirts dorm-to-dorm to turning their brand into a $100 million company. However, what really brought listeners to their feet for a standing ovation was his description of company fundraisers to help children in need, which were launched with money originally earmarked to begin advertising. To this day Life is good® has never advertised, although it is in the midst of trying to boost brand awareness and take its business to the next level by entering new areas, including making exclusive products for college stores and entering publishing.
A sense of optimism against the odds carried through to the annual meeting. NACS CEO Brian Cartier recited the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities. “Those words are about one thing, attitude,” he said. “At NACS we’re about ‘the spring of hope.’” He acknowledged that NACS members are in for a “wild ride” during “very turbulent times” and said that members will have to learn how to do things differently. Incoming NACS president Mary Ellen Martin, director of store services at the University Store, University of Maine at Farmington, reminded attendees, “Change can be difficult. But we need to try new things to thrive and fight back.”
Among NACS’s key initiatives moving forward are to grow custom printing on college campuses; a regional Print-on-Demand network currently being tested at 13 stores in conjunction with R.R. Donnelley, which will roll out by the end of the year; and self-publishing, through a partnership announced yesterday with Lulu. NACS also plans to make this year’s second annual National Student Day on October 4 even bigger. Last year 561 stores participated in the day-long event designed to build a connection between students and the store and to give back to the community. The organization is also working on an online learning platform, the Hub, which will launch at next year’s CAMEX.
