CU Bookstore at University of Colorado Boulder named Collegiate Retailer of the Year

The CU Book Store, University of Colorado Boulder, was named the 2015 Collegiate Retailer of the Year (CROY) by the NACS Foundation , a subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores (NACS). The announcement was made at CAMEX 2015 in Atlanta. CAMEX is the industry’s largest education and tradeshow event.

The award recognizes a college store that demonstrates the highest level of collegiate retailing excellence. Judging is based on six criteria: campus connection, academic support, customer commitment, shopping experience, workplace culture, and profitability.

Brian Groves, director of retail services for the CU Bookstore, accepted the award on behalf of the store and university.

“Receiving this award is an amazing honor for all of our employees, both full-time staff and students,” Groves said. “CU is an awesome place to work and we're all lucky to be a part of it, working and living in Colorado. It’s rare that an entity has the opportunity to tell its story and ultimately be recognized for the value it brings to its community.”

The CROY Award requires the winner to show its connection to the campus through its commitment to customers, academic support, and the shopping experience provided. The CU store scored high with judges in each category.

In just two years, the CU Book Store created a textbook rental program that is one of the largest of its kind. Ninety percent of the titles on the shelves are available for rent. Rentals have saved students nearly $2.8 million over the cost of purchasing new books since the program was introduced.

Additionally, the store remodeled its textbook section to maximize efficiency and convenience for students, who only needed to swipe their ID cards to get a printed version of their semester booklists immediately.

Groves credited the store’s Jason Katzman, assistant director for academic resources, with taking the lead in telling the story of the CU Book Store’s many innovative accomplishments, as well as his campus store colleagues from across the U.S. and Canada for being so willing to exchange ideas about ways to serve students better.

“Very possibly, one of the reasons we received this award is because we think we ‘know a good idea when we see one’ and many of those ideas are shared with us by our colleagues from across the country,” Groves said. “It’s just one of those things that makes working in this industry so enjoyable…the willingness to share with others what’s really exceptional in each of our stores.”

The Collegiate Retailer of the Year Award is underwritten through the Tommye and Keith Miller Endowment Fund. The Millers’ passion for the industry – Tommye is retired director of the Valdosta State University Bookstore in Georgia and a former member of the NACS Board of Trustees and NACS Foundation Board – inspired the couple to endow a prestigious award that would celebrate a dynamic and forward-thinking store’s achievements.

The $5,000 award is given on a biennial basis.