Your bookstore is really four markets, running under one roof.
Books, general merchandise, convenience, and technology each have their own buyer, calendar, and margin profile. We benchmark each one independently against peer institutions, so you can see exactly how your store compares — market by market, with the data to back it up.
Get your 2-page benchmark brief
A short, formula-driven read on how each of your four markets compares to peer institutions — before you ever talk to us.
Get the benchmark briefBenchmarked against IPEDS · NACUBO · NACS · Public contract disclosures
Five seats. One contract. Different priorities at every seat.
A bookstore contract touches more of the institution than any one office tracks. Find your seat, and go straight to what matters to you.
CFO / VP Finance
A million dollars in non-commissioned sales does nothing for your budget. Revenue that never crosses the commission line never reaches the board report — and most contracts don't require it to. We read the contract in full: what the operator owes you, and what only appears to. Then we price the real, all-in cost of running the store outsourced versus independent, so “cheaper” is a number you checked, not a claim you accepted.
See how we help →Provost / VP Academic Affairs
This decision can feel like it belongs to someone else’s office. It doesn’t. Every path — outsourced, hybrid, or independent — still runs through your faculty: no professor adoption, no textbook business, regardless of who operates the store. Inclusive Access or Equitable Access is the right target for affordability, but demand for physical books hasn’t gone away. We build the model around both, with the concessions that keep them working together.
See how we help →Chief Brand Officer / VP Marketing
The brand is a big part of why people choose your campus — and this seat is often left out of the contract conversation. You control campus communication and marketing, and that reach matters more than most contracts account for. Every operating model can work when it’s built around what actually makes your campus distinct. The store decides who earns the right to sell your marks — and creative channels like affiliate links only create value when they run through CLC licensing correctly. Get that right, and it feeds everything downstream: NIL, hot markets, marketing, design clearances, growth.
See how we help →VP Auxiliary Services
This role runs the whole operation day to day, even when it’s left out of the room where decisions get made. Every system — buying, staffing, technology, brand — has to work together, and that starts with your people. Staff need consistency and security in whatever model leadership chooses; burnout is a real operating cost, and it reaches students before any number on a spreadsheet does. This is a growth metric, not overhead.
See how we help →Four questions. Ninety seconds. A calibrated read on your exposure.
Persona-tailored output based on your role, enrollment band, and current operator.
Run the self-assessment →Trust the math, not the pitch.
- AFee-only, always. No commissions, no referral fees, no financial relationship with any operator.
- BEvery finding traces to a formula. The GM Business Macro Scenario Engine produces the same output regardless of the outcome the institution hopes for.
- CTiers are gated by proof, not sold as a bundle. You commit to one tier at a time, with no obligation to proceed.
- DSoutheast-rooted, not a national playbook applied to every campus — built around what makes yours specific.
- EIf the math says your contract is fine, that’s what the deliverable says. In writing.
A scoped Discovery Conversation tells you exactly what’s on the table.
No obligation. Just an honest read on where your contract stands — and where it could.