Barnes & Noble, Starbucks open at YSU Monday

By GRAIG GRAZIOSI

ggraziosi@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

High above the ground floor of Youngstown State University’s new Barnes & Noble bookstore – which opens Monday at 8 a.m. – construction workers meticulously installed a 10-foot graphic depicting former YSU track runner Nina Grambling mid-stride.

The store – between Lincoln and Rayen avenues west of Fifth Avenue – is full of similar YSU imagery, from wall-sized block Y graphics to an army of Pete the Penguins adorning everything from oven mitts to golf balls.

There is a Starbucks Cafe connected to a convenient store, and rows of windows lining both floors of the two-story building, allowing for ample natural light.

And, of course, there are lots and lots of books.

While the retailer will offer a few shelves worth of general reading titles – including a few books by YSU President Jim Tressel – the store’s primarily functions as YSU students’ main source of class textbooks and supplies.

Little in the actual management of the bookstore will change from its previous iteration. The new bookstore will still price match textbooks students find on Amazon and still offers physical and some digital textbooks.

The textbooks inhabit the store’s entire second floor, sharing the space only with an information desk and a counter where students can pick up textbooks they’ve ordered from Barnes & Noble’s online shop.

On the larger first floor, nearly all the 13,000 square feet is split between the Starbucks Cafe and a “spirit shop” full of YSU-branded merchandise.

Along with serving the expected caffeinated beverages and pastries, the cafe also features “smart tables” with electric outlets and USB ports for charging devices, as well as an outdoor seating area facing campus.

Sharing the ground floor is a section of YSU apparel and accessories, from business card holders to hats and hoodies and giant foam fingers.

Store manager Heather White said along with retail opportunities, she intends to bring events to the space as well.

“We’d like to get authors in here to do book signings, and we’re looking to work with the music departments at the university to arrange for student performers to play in the store,” White said.

The store will employ eight full-time workers and has hired 40 part-time student workers from YSU.

While the store will be open to the public Monday, a grand-opening ceremony is being planned for mid-August once students have returned to campus.

Barnes & Noble manages more than 700 campus bookstores nationwide. White said the YSU location is one of only three in Ohio – the others are Ohio State University and the University of Toledo – to include a cafe.

The bookstore, which broke ground last October, is part of a major expansion of YSU’s properties west of the campus, which includes a 220-bed university apartment complex.