Summary Backgrounder for NACS, Inc.
SUMMARY BACKGROUNDER
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE STORES
500 East Lorain St.
Oberlin, Ohio 44074
Telephone: (800) 622-7498 Fax: (440) 775-4769
The National Association of College Stores (NACS) is the professional trade association representing the $10 billion collegiate retailing industry. Headquartered in Oberlin, OH, NACS serves as the industry’s leading resource and advocate. NACS ensures the health and vitality of higher education retailers through education and research, the provision of critical programs and services, and the development of strategic partnerships that enable members to better serve their customers.
Membership
NACS members include more than 3,100 college stores throughout the United States, Canada, and more than 34 other countries, plus approximately 1,100 associate members who supply products and services to college stores.
Products and Services
NACS offers a wide variety of products and services with an emphasis on research and information, advocacy, affinity programs, and networking opportunities. NACS education and professional development opportunities deal with the full spectrum of college store operations, including management, textbooks/course materials, merchandising, technology, financial record-keeping, etc.
NACS’s annual meeting and exhibition, CAMEX (CAmpus Market EXpo), is the world’s largest trade show for the collegiate marketplace. CAMEX typically attracts about 7,000 attendees. CAMEX 2012 takes place March 2-6 in Salt Lake City, UT.
NACS hosts a number of special niche conferences as well. They include the Large Stores Group Annual Meeting, the Private Stores Conference, and Xtreme!, an immersive program that focuses on retailing.
The NACS Foundation is the charitable arm of NACS that supports research and education. Primary activities include funding industry research and educational programs and providing professional development grants for industry education. It also supports the future vitality of the college store industry through hosting industry forms and summits.
NACSCORP is a subsidiary organization of NACS. A for-profit wholesale distributor and retail services provider, NACSCORP was founded in 1963 to provide college stores with hard-to-find titles. Today NACSCORP offers a wide breadth of text and trade books as well as a full range of seasonal merchandise and supplies to both college bookstores and independent booksellers.
PartnerShip LLC is another for-profit subsidiary organization of NACS. Begun in 1989 as a NACS member benefit designed to provide discounted freight service, today it serves as a leading shipping solutions provider to more than 17,500 small- and medium-sized businesses, primarily through national trade associations. In June 1999, the group was organized as a limited liability corporation to enable the Association to better focus on this growing business line.
Founded in 2008, NACS Media Solutions, LLC (NMS)aims to provide the college store industry with a means to acquire digital and alternative content at an affordable price. It conducts research and development in the digital education content area and explores business partnerships with companies offering such services in an attempt to offer students, faculty, and campuses enhanced content with reduced costs.
The Campus Computer Resellers Alliance (CCRA) is a special interest group within NACS that was developed to meet the special needs of computer product resellers that sell principally to students. CCRA holds an annual Conference and Expo to offer campus computer resellers the opportunity to see the latest computer hardware and software available, and to participate in educational sessions, workshops and roundtable discussions on topics related to the industry. The 2012 conference will be held in conjunction with CAMEX March 2-6 in Salt Lake City, UT.
LEADERSHIP 2010/2011
NACS President Danny Key, CCR
Wingate University Bookstore
Wingate, NC
NACS President-Elect Mary Ellen Martin, CCR
The University Bookstore
University of Maine-Farmington
Farmington, ME
NACSCORP Chairperson Jerry Murphy
Harvard Cooperative Society
Cambridge, MA
NACS Foundation President Monica Sinclair
Framing Success
Onalaska, WI
PartnerShip Chairperson Jeff Levin
University Book Store Inc.
Dba Varney’s Book Store
Manhattan, KS
NACS Media Solutions, LLC Dennis Mekelburg, CCR
Chairperson Arizona State University Bookstore
Phoenix, AZ
Association Staff:
Chief Executive Officer Brian E. Cartier, CAE