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“It was dark being at the bottom of the [Campus Center], not really seeing much of the outside world,” store manager Shari McDonald says. Green Street, on the other hand, is “a great location,” McDonald says. “I love all the light.”
What the bookstore gained in visibility, however, it lost in size. Its footprint shrank from 5,000 square feet to “maybe 2,000 now,” McDonald says. The biggest change? Students can no longer browse textbooks in person. Books are shelved in an employees-only area and must be ordered online.
Precious floor space is reserved for school supplies, sundries, and, of course, Smith-branded merch. “We sell a ton of merchandise, so we need as much as possible out there visible for everybody,” says McDonald, adding that the store does $1 million in annual sales. (It is among more than 1,200 bookstores managed by Follett, the largest campus store operator in North America.)
Bestsellers in the sea of blue and gold include a $60 Champion reverse-weave crewneck sweatshirt with the Grécourt Gates logo and a $24 Champion T-shirt that says “Smith College Football” on the front and “Still Undefeated” on the back—a perennial favorite.
This story appears in the Summer 2023 issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly.
