More than just a bookstore: welcoming Barnes and Noble to campus

By Bri Wasil, News Editor

This past Wednesday, Canisius University unveiled its new bookstore through Barnes and Noble College. The rapid turnaround came a couple of weeks after the bookstore had a 75% off sale where teachers, administration and students all flocked to grab items to add to their Griff apparel. One student mentioned, “It was as if Black Friday came early for Canisius. The line stretched around the perimeter of the entire store.” Although the bookstore is still in the process of receiving items, it is now open for students to stop in and check out the new layout. 

Upon speaking with Dominic Bevilacqua, the new store manager, the main changes of the bookstore will feature an inclusive access program for undergraduate students in the spring. He states, the inclusive access program “includes physical and digital course materials as long as the professor requires it for the class.” Rate options are still in the process of being discussed. However, if the rate is for credit hour, students will be charged for the materials used in the specific courses they are enrolled in. On the other hand, with a flat rate, students will pay a single fee for their materials for a semester regardless of credit hours. In either case, the program will encompass all course materials needed for students integrated with their tuition. While Student Affairs is still working out the name of the program, and the rate isn’t finalized yet, Bevilacqua says, “The inclusive access program I think is a big seller, and I think might change the students’ feelings towards the bookstore; we’re here to help you and get you everything that you need…So [students] won’t have to pay me when they come to get their books, they can just pay when they pay their tuition.” 

Additionally, with the new company, the bookstore is also trying to bring in more school spirit and merchandise. Although it may look bare, Bevilacqua emphasizes that “we’re getting clothing, and shipments in every day…So by Christmas, ideally, we should be fully stocked, hopefully sooner.” The bookstore is currently filled with snacks, school supplies, clothes, new water bottles, magnets, plushies and more. There is also a new online site that will work the same as it did previously, where students can still put in their courses and find their books: canisius.bncollege.com. For now, if students have any concerns, questions, etc., they can reach out by email to sm8596@bncollege.com, call 716-888-2335 or stop in Monday-Friday anytime from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Bevilacqua ends with, “Any feedback I would appreciate…we are really flexible and we want to really enhance the student experience, so we are here to really help the students in any way, shape or form or with whatever they need.”