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Bookstore Collects Cash from Other Vendors' Sales
04/03/09
The Bucknell University Bookstore, Lewisburg, PA, rakes in thousands of dollars in general merchandise sales but doesn't spend a penny on inventory or lift a finger to shelve the wares.
How does the store do it? Pop-up vendors.
"We clear out a center area and that's where they are," explained Marlene Wertz, assistant director, in the Idea Exchange: Promotions, Sales, and Events session at CAMEX 2009 in Anaheim, CA.
Almost every week during the academic year, the store arranges for a rotating group of vendors to bring in specialty merchandise for a two-days-only sale, usually Monday-Tuesday or Thursday-Friday. The vendor does all of the setup and takedown, but the store rings up the purchases and keeps a commission. All sales are final; if customers want to return or exchange something, they'll have to contact the vendor directly.
Customers have responded enthusiastically to the temporary availability of the merchandise. "Students get it," said Bonnie Claeys Smith, special events and marketing coordinator. "They see it, they stop, they buy." It also helps that students can opt to charge purchases with their campus ID card.
Some vendors are out-of-town sellers offering the name brands sought by the college-age crowd. For example, 310 Rosemont sells higher-end fashion denim, apparel, and boots, including Seven Jeans, Tibi, Lucky, True Religion, and Ugg. They've been such a hit with students the Bucknell University Bookstore invites them back once each semester. This year's 310 Rosemont pop-up sales grossed $46,000. The store, taking a 20% commission, netted $9,200 of that.
Other pop-ups have featured Beyond the Wall posters, Flare fashion accessories, It's a Wrap handcrafted tableware (especially popular prior to the holidays), seasonal flower and plant sales, and a slew of jewelry vendors. "We don't carry fashion jewelry in our store. There's no need to carry that inventory because these vendors do so well," Wertz said.
The poster sales are scheduled for the beginning of each semester. The store gives out bookmarks, provided by Beyond the Wall, with the sale dates. "We have students coming in to buy posters that don't come in any other time of year," Smith noted.
The pop-up rotation also includes some of Lewisburg's own merchants, whose store locations may be off the beaten track for student foot traffic. The local merchants don't worry about cannibalizing their regular sales. Even with the Bucknell bookstore's commission, the pop-up sales fetch far more than the stores would have otherwise earned on those days.
Some of the local pop-ups have evolved into year-round displays. Brubaker's, a downtown department store, started out as a pop-up but now has a permanent spot in the Bucknell store for higher-end fashion lines such as Izod, Juicy Couture, Lilly Pulitzer, and Vineyard Vines. Vargo Outdoor, another local merchant, now sells North Face products in the bookstore all year.
The pop-up arrangements have also led to exclusive merchandise deals for the Bucknell store. For example, a local candymaker whips up sweets to the store's specifications, including molded chocolate bison, the Bucknell mascot. A shop run by a local woman who handcrafts jewelry now supplies the store with one-of-a-kind Bucknell-logo items.
Now that students are aware of the recurring pop-ups, not much promotion is needed before each sale. "We put signs out telling they'll be here on such-and-such day," Smith said. The store also posts upcoming pop-up dates on its web site.
The commission percentage varies with the vendor and type of merchandise. The store also partners with student groups for fundraising pop-ups, and usually reduces or waives the commission on those sales.
A particularly successful fundraiser has been the annual Sneaker Sale, a one-day event to benefit the women's softball team. Secret Sneaker, a distributor from Lancaster, PA, brings in thousands of men's and women's name-brand athletic shoes discounted 30% to 50%, along with a selection of athletic and outdoor apparel. The sale, too large for the store's regular pop-up area, is held in the gymnasium but the store still handles the checkout.
"It's hugely popular," Smith said. "People buy three, four, five pairs of sneakers." Although the store only receives a 2% commission (the team gets 5%), the event draws enough business to turn a tidy profit for everybody—and creates good will for the store to boot.
The pop-ups not only generate additional revenue at next-to-no risk to the store, they also funnel extra shopper traffic into the store.
—Cindy Ruckman
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