Bookshoppe plans relocation to bank building
Campus Times
September 25, 1998
The University of La Verne Bookshoppe is expected to move to the Wells
Fargo building, on the corner of Bonita Avenue and D Street, the first week
of spring semester.
The final decision regarding the move was made by Dr. Stephen Morgan,
president of the University and Philip Hawkey, executive vice president
of the University, this past spring. The University was expected to conclude
the purchase of the Wells Fargo building today, and the lease with Follet
and Some Crust Bakery is expected to be signed in a few weeks.
Follet is the company that owns several university bookstores, along
with the University Bookshoppe.
"Everything will be finalized depending on city assistance,"
said Hawkey. "We are looking to the city as a source of funding."
"We are out of space at this current location," said Robert
Gibson, Bookshoppe manager. "We would be able to offer more to the
students if we were not as cramped in space."
With a total of 440 new undergraduate students causing a significant
increase in enrollment, the University had to make adjustments. This meant
that the University had to add last minute classes and the bookstore had
to order books in larger quantities to meet the needs of the students and
faculty.
"Thirty or more classes were just added this last week," said
Gibson. Therefore, the bookstore was forced to stack books atop books,
and shelves and on the floor, making it difficult for students to find what
they were looking for.
The move from its current location to the Wells Fargo building will
give the Bookshoppe more room for future unexpected adjustments.
Hawkey said that the bookstore will be able to expand an extra 2,000
square feet, making a move from a 4,000 square foot area to one with 6,000
square feet.
"The expansion will create a full service bookstore," said
Gibson. "It will be much larger with everything that is in the current
bookstore, but we'll have more generic (non-ULV related) gift items."
As for the building that the current bookshoppe is located in, it is
leased by the University. If the decisions are finalized, then a new tenant
would have to be found.
Hawkey said that the Wells Fargo building would have to undergo some
remodeling if the decision was to be finalized. "The ATM will be relocated
to the west corner of the parking lot and there would be offices on the
second floor of the building."
Hawkey said that the offices would be on the rear end of the building
and would take up one-third of the building. The Management Information
Systems (MIS) offices, that are currently located on the second floor in
Woody Hall, would fill the office spaces.
In addition to more room for books and gift items, the University has
chosen to create a much more casual atmosphere for the bookstore. This
will be done by incorporating a bakery on one side of the store.
Some Crust Bakery located on 119 Yale in the Claremont Village has been
chosen by the University to provide the Bookshoppe's bakery services.
"We will provide cookies, pastries, soft drinks, European style
coffee and Fosselman's Ice Cream," said Larry Feemster, owner of Some
Crust Bakery. "Fosselman's is a third generation ice creamery and
it'll be the best ice cream you've ever had."
Some Crust Bakery had been chosen by the readers of the local Daily
Bulletin this past month as the No. 1 bakery in the Inland Empire. The
bakery has been in the area since 1895, and Feemster who runs the business
with his wife, has lived in Claremont for over 20 years.
Hawkey said that the University was interested in having an upscale
bakery and coffee shop and that many participants were interested in recruiting
Some Crust Bakery.
The Bookshoppe on one side, and the bakery/coffee shop on the other,
will create a type of business that is familiar to book and coffee lovers.
It is a concept that is similar to Borders Books, Music and Cafe.
"The Bakery and Bookstore will flow into each other," Feemster
said. "We want students to grab a book, get some coffee and relax."
