Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., plans to move its campus bookstore to Main Street, "bringing an important piece of the campus to the city's economic hub," the Hartford Courant reported.
Speaking at a Chamber of Commerce event, Wesleyan president Michael Roth said the university will issue a RFP for developers for a new location downtown and has looked at several sites and "been in talks with private vendors about operating the store." Due by May 31, the RFP specifies a location between 7,000 and 11,000 square feet on Main Street.
"We want to find a space that is accessible to campus but also on Main Street," Roth told the paper. "We expect it to be a bookstore that functions as a magnet for people who want to be around activities that bookstores often promote: readings, music, there will be some food involved. We just think it will be a place for virtuous economic activity that's good for the school and good for the city, and we'll see what kinds of responses we get."
The current store, Broad Street Books, operated by Follett, is in the same building as the Red & Black Café, which will remain on campus. The café may be involved in helping the relocated bookstore open a café.
Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce president Larry McHugh said a bookstore downtown could attract new visitors and alumni. "We're really excited about them relocating to Main Street," he said. "It's an opportunity for people to come downtown, go to restaurants and see the other retailers. It's a destination store and a destination always brings people in, and it expands from there."
Incidentally, McHugh is chair of the board of trustees of the University of Connecticut, which last week voted to have Barnes & Noble take over the UConn Co-op.
