1995_08 The Daily Collegian August 1995

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Tuesday, August 29,1995
News
Books: Students fmJbargains at an oft-campus booksfore
Continued from page 1.
University Book Mart. A used So¬
ciology 143 book selling for $34.35
on campus goes for $28.55 at the
Book Mart.
Products for the same classes are
not always identical at both stores.
In one case, a Chemistry 1A text¬
book was priced $12.95 higher at
Kennel Bookstore, but it included
a Solutions Guide as part of a two-
book shrink-wrapped package.
Kennel Bookstore was virtually
unchallenged in the textbook sales
and buyback arena until early 1994,
when University Book Mart opened
in a vacant storefront at Bulldog
Plaza. Jay Bassiry, an owner and
partner in the single-store operation,
cites good road frontage and student
demand for an alternate textbook
retailer as reasons for the survival
of his store.
Bulldog Plaza, located on a cor¬
ner lot at Cedar and Barstow av¬
enues, houses, restaurants, a liquor
store and other.businesses that draw
from the local student population.
Bassiry saw the small shopping cen¬
ter as an ideal place to locate the
enterprise that he had sought to
open during his own college careen
Bassiry, a graduate of Buffalo
State University in New York,
earned a degree in mechanics but
decided to enter the retail book trade
instead.
"I used to be a student myself
and I saw that students had no
choice [in textbooksl," Bassiry said.
"It came to my mind to go into the
book business so students could
have the chance to compare."
Like Kennel's third-level text¬
book sales floor, the University
Book Mart arranges books by gen¬
eral area of academic discipline.
Most books are identified by a strip
of paper taped to the shelf that, like
Kennel's tags, denotes the book's
price, the class name and number,
and the professor who requisitioned
the books.
"We get the requisitions from
Kennel Bookstore," Bassiry said.
"But we don't order the total num¬
ber Of books [on the requisition
form] because if we order too many
we have to send them back and the
price goes up. We try to judge from
the previous semester to find out
how many to order."
Peter Alamance, a sophomore
Mathematics major, visited Univer¬
sity Book Mart and left empty-
handed, but said he expected new
shipments to arrive in a few days.
"I've been here before and they
usually have a lot of books,"
Alamance said. "Some are cheaper
here and some are cheaper there [at
Kennel Bookstore]. Buyback prices
are more or less the same, but there
might be a difference of a dollar
between one and the other.
Like most other university book¬
stores, Kennel Bookstore buys used
textbooks at the end of each semes¬
ter and pays a portion of the origi-.
nal price.,The buyback is condi¬
tional — books must be in saleable
condition and can be rejected if an
instructor does not plan to use them
for the next semester.
Buyback prices have tradition¬
ally been a contentious issue among
.students. Some students feel the
buyback prices offered by Kennel
Bookstore are too low, while oth¬
ers believe the store's prices are fair.
"[Buyback prices] are usually
ok, but there have been times when
I thought stuff was worth a lot more
than they gave me," said Steve
■ Wallace, a junior .civil engineering
major. "One time I bought a new
book for $50 at the beginning of the
semester, and they ended up giving
me $12.50 for it. That's a little'low."
Jack Starke, a junior health sci¬
ence major, disagrees. "They give
me what it's worth," he said. "I
come here every time and I really
don't have a problem with it."
Some students feel University
Book Mart gives them an advantage
when they sell their books back to
the stores at the end of the semes¬
ter. "Sometimes [the University
Book Mart] takes back stuff [Ken¬
nel Bookstore] won't take," said
Ann Simmons, a senior health sci-
The Daily Collegian
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and line art illustrations
278-2486
ence major. "One year [Kennel
Bookstore] pulled a fast one when
a lot of teachers changed their texts
and [Kennel Bookstore] wouldn't
take them back. But I'm sure Ken¬
nel Bookstore has a bigger overhead
—-1 don't understand how finances
work at Fresno State.'
Larry Taylor, manager of Ken¬
nel Bookstore, is unconcerned with
any competition presented by Uni¬
versity Book Mart. "They're a
bookstore and we're a bookstore,"
Taylor said. "He sells textbooks and
we sell textbooks. He'll have no
effect on the way we do business."
"They're messy," another Ken¬
nel Bookstore employee said.
"Some of their books are cheaper,
but we haven't changed our prices
for them and we don't plan to."
Kennel Bookstore
B
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Calculators  ^Course Required Items
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278-4268
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Supply Counter
278-4268
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