PW: University Bookstore Celebrates 100 Years

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University Bookstore Celebrates 100 Years
Barbara R ther -- 1/3/00
One of the oldest co-op bookstores celebrates its centennial with annual sales of $50M

A hundred voices and visions are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the University Bookstore in Seattle, Wash. The Centennial reading series, which began on September 9 at the main store, is featuring a different author for 100 days (excepting several holidays). It concludes on January 10, the day that marks the store's original opening in the University of Washington campus cloakroom in 1900.

Kim Rickets, the store's events coordinator, began plans for the series when she joined the staff a little over a year ago. She has seen enthusiasm grow since the series began. Nine hundred people showed up for Jane Goodall's off-site reading, and Dave Barry led the crowd attending his reading in singing "Happy Birthday" to the store. David Guterson and Ivan Doig have also been local favorites.

"One of the most notable things about the series has been how so many authors have taken time to talk about the importance of independent bookstores in their own development as writers," Rickets told PW. Since writers are often readers first, the centennial celebration will also include a Celebrity Reading Marathon. From January 10-15, 100 notable Seattle residents will read from their favorite books to help raise money for the Stanford Book Fund.

The Seattle store, which ranks as one of the country's largest independent booksellers with annual sales in excess of $50 million, is also one of the oldest bookstore co-ops in the nation. When the store was founded in 1900, it was the part-time project of a couple of enterprising students who had noted that East Coast colleges had campus bookstores. The store went bankrupt after only a few months, but was rescued by two faculty members who donated $100. Since then, the store has operated on its own resources. By 1907, the part-time bookstore had grown into a full-fledged business venture that was overseen by the ASUW (Associated Students University of Washington) and was headquartered in various UW campus buildings. In 1924, when the store moved to its current, off-campus location, sales increased dramatically, benefiting from year-round operation. In following years the store was able to purchase its building and expand into adjacent buildings.

Though the store has been incorporated as a separate business since 1932, it was not until 1964 that it formally became a for-profit corporation in trust, for the University. Though it operates as a separate entity from the school, the trust is essentially owned by the students and staff of UW. All monies not needed for operation are refunded annually to University of Washington students, faculty and staff. In addition, the store sponsors a large scholarship fund, which has awarded more than $350,000 in financial aid to UW students since 1942. The store also runs nine satellite locations, including branches in Bellevue and Tacoma, as well as a computer center and a health sciences specialty store. Aside from books, merchandise includes computers, gifts, music, photo supplies and University logo goods.

It has been University-related goods and textbook sales that have seen the store through the recent onslaught of competition from chains. There are now 11 superstores in the area the store once served, according to Bob Cross, the store's general manager since 1958.

Though the store's Web site serves well for textbook orders, the on-line ordering process for general books is still not fully streamlined. The store hopes to have it perfected early this year. Although University Bookstore is the largest bookseller in Seattle, with more than $11 million in book sales from its main store alone, currently general book sales account for only 35% of the store's total sales.

The bookstore takes seriously its role as a fixture in the intellectual life of Seattle. It sponsors community arts and literacy efforts, such as the Northwest Bookfest, Council for the Arts, Seattle Rep Theatre and the Progress Project, a local lecture series.
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