Micawber's popularity as textbook supplier continues to rise

As students rush to acquire second-semester textbooks, Micawber Books finds itself in the limelight as an increasingly popular source of course books for the University community.

Micawber supplied the books for 128 courses this spring, up from 92 courses last year, said Logan Fox, a co-owner of the bookstore.

Since Micawber began selling textbooks nine years ago, the store on Nassau Street has been dueling with the U-Store for textbook sales. So far, the U-Store has not felt a major dent in its sales, store managers said.

Fox suggested that his store's increased popularity stems from specialized service. Customers are directly guided to books they are searching for.

It is much more of a hands-on process for everybody, Fox said as he rushed to escort the next student to her textbooks.

The goal of individualized attention is evident upon entering the store. A poster reads: "Wait for help in finding books."

On a recent afternoon, a dozen students were lined up behind the poster. They were quickly led to their books within a few minutes.

English professor Lee Mitchell — who was one of the first professors to choose Micawber as his textbook supplier — recalled a moment that cemented his longterm loyalty to the bookstore.

One year, Mitchell said, he forgot to order books for a graduate seminar he was teaching until two days before the class started.

Micawber shipped the books in time for the first day of class, he said.

Mitchell said he initially decided to try Micawber nearly a decade ago when he became displeased with the U-Store's level of service and was lured by Micawber's 10-per-cent discount on all trade books.

Mitchell was completely sold on the Nassau book store when he gave the U-Store another chance several years ago.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Mitchell said the U-Store had ordered the wrong edition of a book. The edition of Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady" was thousands of words different than his copy, he said.

While the U-Store may suffer from a tarnished reputation among some professors, many said it has instituted effective changes because of competitive pressure from Micawber.

"Competition always improves everyone," said Matt Johnson, the University's textbooks manager. "But at the same time, we always knew we had problems."

Johnson, who has been at the U-Store for the last three semesters, said the U-Store has upgraded the computer system and made improvements in customer service.

"There are 11 people working on the floor right now trying to offer as much personal service as possible," Johnson said.

In addition, the U-Store has created a more consistent schedule for its staff so that they can improve their knowledge of the textbook section rather than rotating throughout the store, he said.

One professor, P. Adam Sitney of the visual arts department, evenly split his book orders between Micawber and the U-Store this semester.

"As far as I can tell, [the U-Store] is very responsive and good," said Adams.

For Sitney, ordering textbooks has less to do with the bookstores themselves. Bookstores often serve as scapegoats for problems that arise from other sources, he said.

Sitney added the publishers failed to notify the U-Store that a certain edition of a text he requested had gone out of print.

"The trouble comes from the publishers not the bookstores," Sitney said.