The new Bell Tower Bookstore and Bistro will replace Barnes and Noble on Friday, April 12, offering a bistro-style menu and a wider range of clothing styles and brands.
As they approached the end of their 12-year contact with Barnes and Noble, the Furman Auxiliary Services team put out a bid for a new partner — a standard practice to ensure that students are getting the best service. Follett Higher Education will now manage the bookstore, and Bon Appétit catering will support the Starbucks. The food will not be Starbucks-branded, but rather offer Bon Appétit’s curated bistro-style menu of salads, sandwiches, and desserts.
Auxiliary Services Director Tony McGuirt says that food and drinks at Starbucks have been inconsistently stocked recently due to the transition from Barnes and Noble to Follett, but on Friday, students will “see an improvement fairly quickly in that regard.”
McGuirt’s team considered bringing in a Furman alumni’s coffee company to the café, mirroring the Library Cafe and dining hall. However, McGuirt said of the survey results, “the students wanted their Starbucks, so we knew that had to stay.”
As far as the book adoption process, the survey revealed that students wanted to keep both options, in-person and online, for textbook pickup. While the options will remain the same, the interface for ordering books online will change — and likely be connected to Moodle.
The survey results led the team to sell a wider range of clothing in the new store, such as workout sets and polos, and a greater variety of colors and items that feature the Furman logo in a more subtle way.
“We felt like we needed a better representation for the female shopper. Not just a T-shirt, but also a top, or pants that were cut for a female, not just for the male customer,” McGuirt said.
The bookstore also plans to collaborate with local brands to bring in a greater variety of products. In addition, student organizations will have an opportunity to purchase customized T-shirts from the bookstore by submitting a design.
On Friday, students will see the new bistro with its fresh menu, but the large variety of new clothing and more significant design renovations are still to come. McGuirt says this provides a unique opportunity to improve the student experience.
“One of the reasons that we feel we’re kind of glad we’re not going to shut down, renovate and open back up is this gives us an opportunity to see how students react — the flow — and we may change our mind or some things based on what students are saying to us or just (what) their patterns tell us,” McGuirt said.
He encourages students to reach out to him and his team at [email protected] or visit his office in the dining hall for any feedback as the bookstore continues to transform.
“I hope it’s a place that students are going to feel like they’re going to want to hang out in because of the cafe. I hope it’s a place that students find what they need when it comes to Furman supplies, not necessarily Furman garb, but school supplies,” McGuirt said. “We’re always looking for feedback, and Follett seems to be open to any of our ideas, and so if it’s something we can implement, I’m sure they will.”
