Bright lights and freshly painted white walls was what students found this semester as they walked through the doors of the newly remodeled and expanded UM Bookstore, now called The Campus Store.
The store is not only brighter than before, but it is also more spacious and modernized by the reorganization of the sales floor. Black display structures with green and orange Adidas apparel stand out against the walls, more visible from a wider tiled path dividing the women’s and men’s clothing sections.
To the back of the store is an expanded technology department, the U Tech Source Store and a United States Postal Service kiosk. The USPS store formerly located directly behind the store was emptied to create space for the tables of laptops and other electronic devices.
Along with the revamped interior came new students, including freshman Blake Kapnick, who said the layout of the bookstore allowed him to find his textbooks easily.
“Its really a great layout. I like that the books are separated from everything else but everything seems to be in one place,” said Kapnick.
The new, smaller USPS kiosk at the front of the store offers an additional hour of service daily and an extra day of service every week. All previous USPS services continue to be offered.
Sophomore Joshua Bermudez said he found the store redesign to be a positive change because it made the bookstore more spacious and convenient.
“I like it,” he said. “The other post office was in a dark room that was hard to find and I know the building isn’t bigger, but it seems bigger.”
The USPS kiosk is expected to provide a new service called MoneyGram – an electronic money transfer system that allows one party to send to another through its network – by “mid-semester,” said Executive Director for Auxiliary Services Sandra Redway.
The money transfer system will allow for both domestic and international transactions. When asked, several international students, including freshman Shun Lou, were unaware of how MoneyGram worked. Lou said she plans to continue using standard bank transfers to receive and send money abroad.
“I think its more convenient,” she said.
It is unclear if the move and downsizing of the Post Office affected the employees who worked in the previous location. Attempts to speak to employees in the Campus Store were redirected to Store Manager Wendy Smith. Smith and Auxiliary Services did not comment on that employment status of any workers in the old location.
The USPS kiosk is open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and select postal holidays.