In the second trauma faced by a college co-op store in as many months, the Yale Co-op bookstore has filed for bankruptcy. Last month, Oberlin Co-op abruptly closed its doors after struggling with cash flow.
The Yale Co-op store lost a lease battle to Barnes & Noble, forcing it to relocate in June from its site on the heavily trafficked west side of campus to one in the less populated Chapel Square area.
A lawyer representing Yale Co-op told the Associated Press that the store hopes to payback all the money owed and has filed for Chapter 11 "to preserve the Yale Co-op as a business." According to the AP, Wallace's had taken management of the store last January after financial pressures mounted. Among the store's debts is a $200,000 tab with wholesaler Login Brothers Book. Still unclear is whether operations will be scaled back.
When faced with a similar problem, Harvard Co-op, the only co-op store in the country older than the Yale store, decided to join forces with Barnes & Noble. And trustees of the Oberlin Co-op are currently suing both the university and management company.
