Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 54

STORE 2013 LIBRIS AWARDS

NOT AFRAID OF
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
A willingness to change: a hallmark of Libris-winning retailers
BY ROBERT PRICE
“IT COMES down to an awful lot of listening.”

This is how Chad Saunders sums up the retail philosophy of the University of Toronto
Bookstore—the 2013 Libris Campus Bookstore of the Year.
This is the seventh time the U of T Bookstore has won the Libris for best campus
bookstore. The Libris Awards showcase the
best in Canadian books and bookselling,
as nominated and selected by members of
Canadian Booksellers Association. At the
2013 awards gala, held during RCC’s STORE
Conference, Alice Munro made a rare public
appearance to accept the award for Lifetime
Achievement, an honour she shared with
Jack Rabinovitch, founder of the Giller Prize.
Saunders, manager of the U of T Bookstore,
says the store’s key to success is its finely
tuned ears. The store surveys customers constantly. Last year, the store ran seven surveys
and heard from 13,000 respondents.
“We drill in on topics where we think we
have to learn,” says Saunders. “We try to
solve the problem and run a survey again. It’s
a never-ending cycle.”
Saunders says survey after survey show
that students want to save money on textbooks. The store has responded by offering
the largest textbook rental program in Canada and dramatically increasing the amount
of used books available to students. The store
also changed the pricing scheme on new
books to be more competitive. These changes have saved students almost $4-million dollars.
Listening to the customer prompted other changes as well.
When students said they wanted shorter lines at the cash
register during peak times, the store responded by increasing
the number of cash registers, cutting wait times by more than
80 per cent. Recently, the store waded into cell phone sales,
something rare for a bookstore.
“Smartphones are a huge part of student life, and it’s something we think is very important to sell,” explains Saunders.
The store is also moving into custom-order, on-site garment

54 |

canadian retailer | store 2013 | www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

UofT Bookstore's innovative in-store printing press.

print, a complement to the store’s in-store
printing press.
“One of the things that makes us different,
and a big part of our success, is that we do a
great job with the general book business and
we’re doing very innovative things with textbooks, cell phones, the garment printing and
the print-on-demand book machine. We’re
bringing innovative services to our community and the surrounding community.”



http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Canadian Retailer - Store 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Store 2013

PUBLISHER’S DESK
RETAIL CURRENTS
RETAIL: AT ISSUE
STORE 2013—EVOLUTION OF RETAIL
AWARDS OF DISTINCTION
EXCELLENCE IN RETAIL AWARDS
CONFERENCE INSIGHTS
RETAIL AS A CAREER SCHOLARSHIPS
LIBRIS AWARDS
GRAND PRIX AWARDS
TABLETS CHANGING THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE
MYSTORE AS UNIQUE AS MY STORE
RETAIL COUNCIL OF CANADA—CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF RETAIL INSPIRATION, INNOVATION AND GROWTH
50 YEARS STRONG: MOMENTOUS MOMENTS IN RECENT CANADIAN RETAILING HISTORY
STANDING UP FOR RETAILERS’ RIGHTS
CANADIAN E-COMMERCE INNOVATORS: THINKING OUTSIDE THE STORE
THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
RETAIL QUICK TIPS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - cover1
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - cover2
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 3
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 4
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 5
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - PUBLISHER’S DESK
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 7
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - RETAIL CURRENTS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 9
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 10
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 11
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - RETAIL: AT ISSUE
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 13
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 14
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - STORE 2013—EVOLUTION OF RETAIL
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - AWARDS OF DISTINCTION
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 17
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 18
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 19
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 20
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 21
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 22
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 23
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 24
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 25
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 26
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 27
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 28
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 29
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 30
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 31
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 32
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - EXCELLENCE IN RETAIL AWARDS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 34
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 35
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 36
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 37
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 38
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 39
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 40
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 41
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 42
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 43
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 44
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 45
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - CONFERENCE INSIGHTS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 47
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 48
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 49
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - RETAIL AS A CAREER SCHOLARSHIPS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 51
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 52
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - LIBRIS AWARDS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 54
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 55
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 56
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 57
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - GRAND PRIX AWARDS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 59
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 60
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 61
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 62
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 63
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 64
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 65
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Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 69
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 70
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 71
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 72
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 73
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 74
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 75
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 76
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - TABLETS CHANGING THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 78
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 79
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 80
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - MYSTORE AS UNIQUE AS MY STORE
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 82
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 83
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 84
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - RETAIL COUNCIL OF CANADA—CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF RETAIL INSPIRATION, INNOVATION AND GROWTH
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 50 YEARS STRONG: MOMENTOUS MOMENTS IN RECENT CANADIAN RETAILING HISTORY
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 87
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 88
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 89
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 90
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 91
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 92
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 93
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - STANDING UP FOR RETAILERS’ RIGHTS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 95
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 96
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 97
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - CANADIAN E-COMMERCE INNOVATORS: THINKING OUTSIDE THE STORE
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 99
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 100
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 101
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 102
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 104
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 105
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 106
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 107
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 108
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - RETAIL QUICK TIPS
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - cover3
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - cover4
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 113
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 114
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 115
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Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 118
Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 119
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