<p>I am currently standing inside penns bookstore and was wondering if ours is as big and complete as this one. i mean can we get there clothes and stuff inside there, is it big??</p>
<p>I’m not sure it’s as big as Penn’s, but it does carry UVA clothing, dorm and school supplies, gifts, non-required books on the first floor. The whole second floor has class-ordered books. There’s also a mail center, a coffee/pastry stand, a mini-Clinique section and Cavalier Computers. I think Penn’s bookstore is the only/main bookstore for the whole university, because I remember seeing Law volumes there (and instantly wanting to buy everything on Con Law!), whereas UVA has separate bookstores for some of its grad programs (like law).</p>
<p>It’s big enough for you to get just about anything UVA you want, there are also a couple others stores on the corner for UVA gear and books (Mincers and the Student Bookstore).</p>
<p>The UVA Bookstore will soon be expanding soon with a much larger store with more room for textbooks and Cavalier Computers.</p>
<p>there is no bookstore as penn bookstore!</p>
<p>I also want to know if you’re basing your decision of where you will live for four years on a bookstore you will be in for .001% of that time.</p>
<p>Now that would be really stupid wouldn’t it? I can’t imagine hoy hazel could ever extrapolate anything that dumb from my words. I was just wondering how OUR ( since I am already enrolled at UVa) bookstore was compared with penns since I am currently visiting penn. FYI I have never been in UVa so I didn’t male my decision based on anything but academics. So let’s try to think before writinganything</p>
<p>just putting things in perspective. if you’re already enrolled you can see the bookstore for yourself in a month or so, or when you go for orientation, and make your own comparison which i’m sure is the only one that really counts.</p>
<p>Today’s bookstore is certainly attractive and carries a comprehensive assortment of UVa items (clothing and a whole range of knick-knacks) in addition to textbooks. It is probably about 5 times larger than it was when I was a student in the 1970s-1980s. However, from what I have observed it is nothing special (for universities of this size) as compared to the stores at many other places. My guess (impression) is that most college bookstores in this day and age have recognized the benefits (and profits) of marketing their brand to the hilt, and nationwide probably do business with many of the same suppliers. Once a particular item or service is developed at one institution, it doesn’t seem to take very long to spread to most others.</p>
<p>
Weldon, I don’t think merch is really at many universities. Many schools outsource their bookstores and merch development. </p>
<p>I am not privy to the particulars of our bookstore’s operations, so I don’t know what sorts of contracts we have in that area.</p>
<p>Dean J- probably I misspoke. I didn’t mean to imply that universities (or university bookstores) are in general into merchandizing and product development. Only that you tend to see something new or different on the shelves in one bookstore, but then before long the same thing (product or service) seems to appear elsewhere. I would think that some new ideas do come out of local operations, but my real point was that for whatever reason (maybe the overall size or sales potential of a particular store?) things seem to get offered and established in one place but then quickly spread to other places. Again this is all guesswork, but either bookstores are using the same suppliers, or the bookstore operators are pretty much attuned to what each other is doing. My ultimate point (relevant to this thread) was that for a given size institution there appear to be a lot of similarities in what the stores offer.</p>
<p>I thought it was quite nice and comparable to other large schools. Many are getting out of the general interest books these days as online sellers are killing them. Sad. I like to browse good store. </p>
<p>I think most get their clothing and such from the same few suppliers. You see the same stuff all over. Just different colors.</p>