Occidental College in Los Angeles, Calif., has launched a new partnership with Barnes & Noble College to upgrade the old systems being used in the bookstore, the Occidental reported. While the school still owns the store and building, B&N College is operating the inside of the bookstore.
"The bookstore is an underperforming cost center," said Erik Russell, assistant v-p of hospitality and auxiliary services. "What Barnes & Noble brings to the table in terms of the operations is the tools, the systems and the efficiencies that we simply didn't have."
Bookstore manager Donna Huebner said the partnership with B&N College allows the bookstore to have access to a wider range of book selections: "They're able to go in and negotiate with some of these publishers to be able to get books in digital format. So in a lot of ways, for textbooks especially, it's been better for us."