The Cengage/McGraw-Hill Merger: A Message for ICBA Members
You may have heard the big news about the proposed Cengage/McGraw-Hill merger. With Cengage and McGraw being strong supporters of ICBA, we were able to speak with Kevin Carlsten, VP of Channel Strategy and Operations at Cengage, and asked him to provide ICBA Members with an update…he was glad to share the following: As [...]
A Visit to the Pioneer Bookshop at Grinnell College
Sonda and Jon recently visited Cassie Wherry at the Pioneer Bookshop serving Grinnell College. The store is on the main street in the city of Grinnell and thus, is a bit off-campus which creates both opportunities and some challenges. There’s plenty of fun merchandise and thoughtful merchandising everywhere you look—Cassie and her team are focused [...]
A Look Inside the UC San Diego Bookstore
Marcy and Jon were in the San Diego area and stopped by to visit Sandie Sears and her team at the UC San Diego Bookstore. Great examples of excellent visual merchandising could be found throughout the store. And the broad product assortment ranged beyond traditional college store items to include everything from Pop Sockets to [...]
Retail Trends at the 2019 Global Retailing Conference
Jon Bibo attended the Global Retailing Conference (GRC) in Tucson, AZ, for the 5th consecutive year and shares his thoughts on this exciting conference that addresses hot topics and the latest strategies in the world of retail. The GRC is one of my favorite and most thought-provoking Conferences each year. The GRC coordinates [...]
The Biggest Takeaways from the 2018 Shop.Org Conference
Jon Bibo represented ICBA at the Shop.Org Conference earlier this month. Here are Jon's observations regarding what was most relevant and what it may mean for independent college stores. This is my 4th time attending the Shop.Org Conference and it’s one of the more exciting shows I attend each year. First of all, [...]