Barnes And Noble To Run UConn Bookstores

STORRS, CT - The demise of the UConn Co-Op became official Wednesday and Barnes & Noble will be taking over bookstore operations at the University of Connecticut.

The UConn Board of Trustees voted in favor of the move at its monthly meeting, ending a saga that began in December, when university officials decided to send out request for proposal forms amid financial difficulties at the Co-Op.

The reasoning behind the move was that university officials believed the current Co-Op management could not compete with "proven service" a national chain could give and could not "quickly reverse years of decline," according to documents in the trustees packet.

The Co-Op had bid the remain as the stores' managing entity.

UConn will receive in yearly commission 17.5 percent of the sales from Barnes & Noble up to $20 million. That jumps to 19 percent if the sales range between $20 million and $25 million and increases to 20 percent for sales exceed $25 million, according to documents in the trustees packet.

Commission proceeds will go toward financial aid and "student support," UConn officials said.

Barnes & Noble has also agreed to support a potential store at the Downtown Hartford campus to the tune of $1 million in the first year of the store's operation and contribute and another $1 million toward capital investments, according to documents in the trustees packet.

The chair will offer "affordable textbook options," according to documents in the trustees packet.

The agreement is for the bookstore in the Storrs campus next to Gampel Pavilion, the bookstore in Storrs Center and the stores at the law school, UConn health and at all branch campuses, according to documents in the trustees packet.