Barnes & Noble, The Ohio State University Bookstore is set to open Aug. 15 in the South Campus Gateway and will integrate two existing campus bookstores into the new two-story retail area.
Components of the existing Long’s Bookstore and Health Sciences Bookstore will combine with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. in the new Gateway bookstore, said Stephen Sterrett, director of community relations at Campus Partners.
Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc., which will run the new bookstore, operates more than 530 college bookstores throughout the country, said Kathy Smith, general manager of Long’s and OSU Bookstores. The company tries to integrate itself into the campus communities, she said.
The OSU Bookstore has been part of Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. since 2000, but will maintain its current location in the Central Classroom building, Smith said. Long’s Bookstore was sold to Campus Partners in 2000 by the Long family and soon after was joined with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc., she said.
Barnes & Noble has operated the store under a lease and licensing agreement with Campus Partners, Sterrett said.
Smith said Long’s is moving to the South Campus Gateway and changing its name to the Barnes & Noble, The Ohio State University Bookstore.
“It is everything that Long’s was and adds the Barnes & Noble café and book assortment,” she said.
Long’s, with more than a century of history on OSU’s campus, will either be renovated or torn down and replaced with a new building, Sterrett said.
“The plan right now is to lease the building out for two or three years and then look at redevelopment of the site,” he said.
Sterrett said after Long’s opens at Gateway, there will be more time to figure out what will happen in the long run with the current Long’s building.
“There will be a community planning process which will involve all of the area stakeholders,” Sterrett said. “We will look at what can be done at 15th (Avenue) and High (Street) to increase the sense of place at the heart of the university.”
Moving from Long’s centralized location of 15th Avenue and High Street to the Gateway at the outer boundaries of campus will not hurt business, Smith said.
“There will be a traffic pattern change when students see all that the Gateway has to offer,” she said. “South Campus Gateway will be a destination.”
Most students usually return to the same store where they bought books their first quarter, said Sammantha Schneider, a senior in finance.
“I have been buying my books at Long’s since my freshman year,” Schneider said. “I plan to keep buying them there, even when it moves to the Gateway.”
Schneider added that most campus bookstores do not have available parking, and that makes Long’s more attractive to students.
“Long’s has always been a convenient store to buy books,” she said. “Gateway is going to be a popular place on campus, so it won’t be out of the way for most students.”
The bookstore of 49,830-square-feet will include a full selection of text books for all OSU courses, a full selection of reference and general reading titles, OSU clothing and gifts, art and school supplies, and health science supplies, Smith said. She also said a children’s book and reading area and a 75-seat indoor/outdoor café also will be featured in the Gateway location.
The cafe inside the new bookstore will serve Starbuck’s coffee, providing customers the opportunity to have a cup of coffee while reading, said Michelle Edwards, Starbuck’s district manager.
“One of the neat things about Starbucks is that our customers frequent many locations,” Edwards said. “The Barnes & Noble location provides a different atmosphere where people can drink our coffee.”
