Originally Posted by lizziepizzie

Nobody's going to call it the McMaster Campus Store anway. It will always be Titles. Just like 1280 is still Quarter's for a lot of people and Centro is still Commons. Honestly, I get confused when anyone says they're heading to Centro because I still think of it as Commons. I don't understand why the name has to be changed at all, especially since the new name is ridiculously lame and unoriginal.

One of the complaints that we heard over and over again was that "Titles" was not a bookstore and it was false advertising to call it that.

Over the years the Campus Store has had to adapt because people just aren't buying books they way they used to and students are demanding more technology and a greater breadth of products. If the store only relied on books it would be out of business quickly.

Take a look at any Chapters and the amount of floor space they devote to their coffee shops, gifts, and stationery and you start get a sense of the amount of diversity necessary to keep the business healthy.

It's no secrete that the book industry has changed and it is going to keep on evolving for years to come. The future is not set in stone but we do know that we will adapt with it. The thing we know for sure is that we will be a store on campus and will carry whatever products our students need to be successful. That is going to include books, computers, lab supplies, stationery and clothing.

Agreed, the name is literal and maybe everyone will be calling it Titles for years to come. The name Titles is actually only about 20 years old. Before that it was the McMaster Bookstore. The long time staff tell me that when they changed the name to Titles people swore up and down that it was a stupid name and that the should store should just be literally called 'bookstore' and they would never use it. Everything evolves. While the name is generic it will always fit no matter where the industry takes us.

The exciting bit is truly going to be the expansion. Having all of the textbooks upstairs so that no one is waiting on a Tank run will be awesome. Next year when the new doors go in and we actually have proper wheelchair access from the outside is also pretty exciting. Right now anyone in a chair can't even get down to the Tank.

Originally Posted by staceygab

One of the complaints that we heard over and over again was that "Titles" was not a bookstore and it was false advertising to call it that.

I find it a little strange that of all the complaints the bookstore received, the store chose to listen to the one that (practically speaking) doesn't actually affect anybody, instigated by what seems to be small percentage of students looking for something to pick at. If "I think Titles is false advertising" is the store's biggest complaint, it's probably in fairly good shape.

Interestingly enough, you mention Chapters later in your post, a store that's been successful through the vast expansion of the products it offered while doing so with a name more evocative of a bookstore than Titles is.

Originally Posted by staceygab

The exciting bit is truly going to be the expansion. Having all of the textbooks upstairs so that no one is waiting on a Tank run will be awesome. Next year when the new doors go in and we actually have proper wheelchair access from the outside is also pretty exciting. Right now anyone in a chair can't even get down to the Tank.

This is the more relevant topic at hand, and the concerns with it haven't really been addressed. But considering there's a finite amount of space that Titles has, how does the store plan on integrating the entire contents of the Tank into Titles' space?

Lines already have the potential to be intolerably long during Welcome Week when "only" the frosh are forced to converge upon a single location to purchase their materials. How exactly does the store plan on dealing with this issue once the supply needs of the entire undergraduate student body are condensed into one location with presumably reduced floor space? "Tank runs" might have sucked (although I'm not sure how often they actually occurred), but that's the price to pay for having such a vast space available. The entire plan just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

There's a potential solution in staggering the availability of books (similar to how Solar is open to different level students on different days), but even this has problems in that it's impossible to create a schedule that meets the the needs of every student's different window of availability.

Also, re: accessibility issues: am I misunderstanding something? If the Tank is being converted to warehouse space, will it still require wheelchair access?

Edit: I also just re-read the article and realized that plans for expansion included a physical expansion/renovation as well as increased merchandise selection. I missed this part my first time around, but I still think the issues I brought up stand, as there is a limit to how much space is available for Campus Store use.

Originally Posted by staceygab

With no physical locations Amazon also does not have the same kind of overhead like rent and staffing as the Campus Store and they aren't paying people to manage organizing the Book list for the entire school.

Amazon still has warehouses that they pay people to manage.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=amazo...=1777&bih=1194

Also, re: accessibility issues: am I misunderstanding something? If the Tank is being converted to warehouse space, will it still require wheelchair access?

http://youtu.be/LXNFJ_XRX7A?t=37s

I am sorry, but when something doesn't justify the costs of expanding building, building elevators and such to benefit less than 1% of population, then it simply doesn't justify the costs.

Originally Posted by Afzal

Amazon still has warehouses that they pay people to manage.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=amazo...=1777&bih=1194

What they don't have is a brick and mortar storefront to staff, rent and manage. Warehouse rents are much cheaper than storefront rent. Operating costs of a warehouse are lower than than a retail storefront. The immense volumes they do create economies of scale and ability to negotiate better deals from publishers.

Google "Amazon working conditions" and give a few of the articles a read. It will give you an idea of the human cost of those low prices.

Originally Posted by MrPlinkett

http://youtu.be/LXNFJ_XRX7A?t=37s

I am sorry, but when something doesn't justify the costs of expanding building, building elevators and such to benefit less than 1% of population, then it simply doesn't justify the costs.

It is not the Tank that the accessible entrances are are being added to.

The main store is being expanded this year to accommodate all of the books from the Tank. Next year the main store will have new wheelchair entrances added. Having all of the books in one spot is good for all students and creating accessible entrances (the Tank had none) is important.

The new entrances will not only make the store accessible it will also allow for more people to shop at once during Rush (part of the fire code is a ratio of occupants to doors).

Originally Posted by lizziepizzie

Nobody's going to call it the McMaster Campus Store anway. It will always be Titles. Just like 1280 is still Quarter's for a lot of people and Centro is still Commons. Honestly, I get confused when anyone says they're heading to Centro because I still think of it as Commons. I don't understand why the name has to be changed at all, especially since the new name is ridiculously lame and unoriginal.

Except the people who came to Mac when these places were called Titles, Quarter's, and Commons will graduate, and the new people who already do call these places by their new names will continue to do so. All of my year used Centro and 1280, and all of the years after mine.

If everyone at Mac stayed here forever and no new people came in, sure, the Campus Store would always be "Titles." However, this is obviously not the case.

Originally Posted by staceygab

It is not the Tank that the accessible entrances are are being added to.

The main store is being expanded this year to accommodate all of the books from the Tank. Next year the main store will have new wheelchair entrances added. Having all of the books in one spot is good for all students and creating accessible entrances (the Tank had none) is important.

The new entrances will not only make the store accessible it will also allow for more people to shop at once during Rush (part of the fire code is a ratio of occupants to doors).

I think that is what people are worried about - insane line-ups due to so many people trying to buy books at once. Even if there's less of a line-up to get into the store, how will line-ups to pay be affected? Will there be more cashier stations and more employees?

I think that is what people are worried about - insane line-ups due to so many people trying to buy books at once. Even if there's less of a line-up to get into the store, how will line-ups to pay be affected? Will there be more cashier stations and more employees?

No, I am afraid that the university will spend their money onto something completely unnecessary. The store does not have the funds to do changes this big on their own. So we will be paying for something that will not help the situation. The lines will be there, so are the high prices.

Instead you could spend the money onto something relevant to everyday student life. Like how about we put soundproof material into the walls in the group study rooms in basement of Thode, so people stop bothering people trying to study every single day?

Also all this accessibility nonsense. in Thode's basement the university turned a custodial closet into an accessible washroom. Guess how many wheelchair users I have seen in Thode, let alone basement of Thode? Zero! Guess how many people I am seeing there now, to use the Oh so needed accessible washroom? Zero. So basically a month of work, payed by my money, as well as a month of Thode basement smelling like crap due to all the pipe working, was for absolutely nothing.

The university has no idea how to spend our money good. The student union isn't doing anything, they BSed their way to MSU just so it would look good on their resumes. They aren't doing anything for the students.

I've been in this university for years, the lockers in KTH-TSH-CNH dungeons still look like they are from the 60's. Half of the campus' pedestrian areas look like crap, and of course there's the infamous McMaster lake. Noone ain't doing nothing.

One of the complaints that we heard over and over again was that "Titles" was not a bookstore and it was false advertising to call it that.

Oh, well that justifies the money to be spent. How about we just rename it to gift shop and a local Apple store, move all the books to the Tank, rename Tank into a book store, and extend the buy/return period to avoid line ups? There, problem solved.

In the arguement Titles wasn't a real bookstore that can be true. I went to Harvard on my trip to boston and it looked exactly like chapters. Titles just needed more space for moar books. And Harvard bookstore literally sold just books

Originally Posted by starfish

I think that is what people are worried about - insane line-ups due to so many people trying to buy books at once. Even if there's less of a line-up to get into the store, how will line-ups to pay be affected? Will there be more cashier stations and more employees?

New cash desks are being added. One of the benefits is that all of the staff can now be in one place instead of splitting them between two locations. The textbook buyers who have intimate knowledge of their assigned subject matter will be close to the floor so that they can answer book questions for all year levels instead of only being near year one
books.

Originally Posted by Entropy

This is the more relevant topic at hand, and the concerns with it haven't really been addressed. But considering there's a finite amount of space that Titles has, how does the store plan on integrating the entire contents of the Tank into Titles' space?

The increased space is coming from renovating the existing receiving area (it is being moved down the hall to a room that used to be used by the Registrar's Office to stuff envelopes - those workers now share the Tank). The Campus Store accounting & administration office areas are also going to incorporated into textbook floor space. The new offices for those workers will be reduced in size and tucked into some of the currently underused dead corners of the store with some people who's roles do not directly involve working the sales floor moving into a room down the hall which prior to this was a stockroom.

Originally Posted by MrPlinkett

Also all this accessibility nonsense. in Thode's basement the university turned a custodial closet into an accessible washroom. Guess how many wheelchair users I have seen in Thode, let alone basement of Thode? Zero! Guess how many people I am seeing there now, to use the Oh so needed accessible washroom? Zero. So basically a month of work, payed by my money, as well as a month of Thode basement smelling like crap due to all the pipe working, was for absolutely nothing.

Regardless of how many wheelchair users you've seen in Thode, there are requirements for accessibility in buildings in Ontario. Check out http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/pr...ity/index.aspx for some of the details. Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't done more to Thode.

I was going to start this post off with "Unfortunately...", but I think it's actually fortunate that these requirements are being put in place. Arguing that "zero wheelchair users" use Thode does not mean that it should not be made accessible to them, and others with less obvious disabilities.

I can't help but feel that it is a mistake rebranding "titles" to "McMaster Campus Store" As a commerce graduate whose had to endure numerous marketing courses this change seems to go against all conventional teachings.

Titles was a unique name that all students identified with, and now a decision was made to change the store name to a bland "McMaster Campus Store." Do they believe students will say "hey im going to the McMaster Campus Store." Businesses with one syllable names tend to stick and resonate more with people.

Also if the powers that be were so concerned that the "Title's Bookstore" name did not reflect the products being sold at the store, then a simple name change to "Title's Campus Store" would have rectified that issue.

Can one imagine if every post secondary institution in north america referred to their campus store as "_______ campus store." How bland and uninspiring. Keeping the "Titles" name while changing bookstore to campus store would have been a better route to take. Brand recognition is everything. I feel the university missed the boat on this one and the change was a mistake.

I'm going to miss following the goldfish.. :(