Collegiate Retail Alliance (CRA) to Make Sizable Donations to Two College Store Trade Associations

The Collegiate Retail Alliance (CRA) is announcing its decision to dissolve and, simultaneously, to donate its remaining assets to the National Association of College Stores (NACS) Foundation (nacsfoundation.org) and the Independent College Bookstore Association (ICBA) (ICBAinc.com). The donations will be split equally between the two organizations.

The CRA was formed in December 2000, and acquired Ratex Business Solutions, providing a retail software system to independent collegiate stores. For most of these twenty-plus years, the CRA was committed to developing technology that would benefit its member stores. In May 2018, Ratex was merged with the NBC Prism Technology Division to form a new company called PrismRBS. Then in May 2022, PrismRBS was sold to N. Harris Computer Corporation.

With the latter transaction, the nature of the CRA was fundamentally changed. What had always been an operating company with a membership organization was no longer an operating company and no longer a membership organization. The CRA board therefore decided that the best way to serve its original mission of serving independent collegiate stores was to dissolve the CRA and donate the remaining assets to the two major independent college bookstore associations.

David Kent, COO of CRA, said, "The CRA is pleased to be able to support these two great organizations who both focus on demonstrating that self-operation of a college store is the most effective operating model to serve students and higher education institutions. Even though the CRA will cease to function as a unique entity both ICBA, and NACS through the NACS Foundation, will be able to use these donations to further their support of the independent college store channel.”

Ed Schlichenmayer, CEO of NACS and the NACS Foundation, commented, “I commend the leadership of the CRA for their generosity, as well as their long-standing commitment to the development of successful business solutions for independent campus stores. This donation further signifies their dedication to the college store retail industry, and the NACS Foundation is grateful for this opportunity to accelerate its mission to provide campus store professionals with the support and services they need to ensure their stores remain valued campus resources.”

Jon Bibo, CEO of ICBA, added, “The College Store Members of ICBA passionately focus on student and institutional success. Therefore, ICBA’s programs and services are constantly being expanded and enhanced to meet the evolving needs of higher education consumers and institutions. This generous donation from the CRA will certainly go a long way to helping us serve our Member Stores, who can in turn, better serve their institutions.”

ABOUT NACS

The NACS Foundation, established nearly four decades ago, is the only philanthropic resource for the campus store industry. It is closely aligned with the mission of NACS, and both organizations are focused on driving the success of independent college stores, who in turn are integral to student success through the support of their institutions' academic missions and cultivation of their institutions' school spirit and sense of community. The NACS Foundation supports industry-related research, provides meaningful resources to ensure store professionals have access to quality education, and is the leader in the development and adoption of campus store performance standards.

ABOUT ICBA

Since 1927, the Independent College Bookstore Association (ICBA; ICBAinc.com) has been focused exclusively on serving institutionally affiliated college stores as Members. ICBA’s Mission is to support the independent operation of a college store, which is the most effective way to serve campus stakeholders. ICBA provides value to our Members through Education, Networking, and Vendor Partner programs. ICBA programs and services are designed to help vendors support this channel and to help self-operated stores remain independent and achieve financial and operational success to support the campuses they serve.