Student Book Store adapts to seasonal rush

Imagine seeing nearly all your customers within a one- or two-week period, causing you to add 26 registers and 150 temporary employees.

Such major seasonal shifts are normal for Student Book Store in East Lansing, which carries thousands of textbook titles—as well as course packets ordered by professors and put together by the store—for Michigan State University and Lansing Community College.

It sounds chaotic, but the Ballein family has this challenging retail niche down to a well-organized science.

Howard Ballein leads a crew that currently includes a total of seven Balleins: Howard and his wife Viv; sons Greg and Brad and their wives, Michele and Tracy; and Howard’s brother, John.

Brad and Greg have worked full-time at the store since they were teens—even before that, one of their earliest memories is of sticking “Used” stickers on textbooks for a dollar an hour. The secret of having so many family members working together happily, Brad explains, is that they don’t work closely together.

“We each have our own identity at work,” he said. “Some days I only see my mother once. There are the occasional difficulties with vacation time—there’s no way we can all be off at the same time. But that’s okay.”

Howard and Viv started the store back in 1960, in a 2,000-square-foot space located across from MSU’s campus. The store has grown to 20,000 square feet of retail space and another 20,000 in warehouse and office space.

Howard began learning the textbook trade in the late 1950s at a large bookstore serving Ohio State students in Columbus, Ohio. When an opportunity came up to invest his “sweat equity” in a new store in East Lansing, he and Viv took it. Since then he has been refining his systems for working with school-specific and time-specific inventories.

Ballein is a part of a privately held organization of 11 stores sharing many common families as shareholders, with stores at Michigan State University, Iowa State University, Ohio State University, Central Michigan University, Penn State University, Ohio University, University of Virginia, Bowling Green State University, Purdue, University of North Carolina and Northern Illinois University.

Just as important as the logistical skills of buying and selling textbooks, Ballein’s people skills play a large role in his business success. He genuinely enjoys his staff and customers.

“We love working with college students,” said Howard. Viv adds, “They’re fun and so full of life.”

“This job is about maintaining good relationships, not just with customers but with staff, bankers, vendors, professors and academic department secretaries,” Howard explained.

“And it’s more than just being nice to people you want something from—it’s got to be a two-way street. I like to build long-term relationships and remain loyal to them.”

To prepare for that week-long textbook-buying blitz twice a year, the staff starts many months in advance, getting book lists from professors and department secretaries, obtaining copyright permissions for materials to be photocopied for the course packets, working with textbook vendors and hiring temporary staff.

As the first day of the semester approaches, computers make it easier to adjust inventory.

“Professors give us an estimate of the number of students they might expect, but sometimes those aren’t accurate until much closer to the first day of class.

“Now with online course registration, we can watch enrollments for each course right up to the first day, and make last-minute adjustments when necessary,” said Howard.

They also hire their fall staff in the spring before students leave for summer vacation and keep in touch with them through postcards or e-mail over the summer, reminding them when to show up after they return to campus.

“Inevitably, a few students who signed on in the spring will just not show up, so we’re prepared to hire more in the fall,” said Viv. Howard added that there are fewer “no shows” in recent years.

In order to add 26 registers, all the apparel racks in the “Green & White Shop” are rolled toward the back wall and 13 banks with two registers each are set up near the front of the store. They join the 10 registers on the side of the store to help process the crowds.

They used to need 50 registers to handle the crowds efficiently, according to Viv. But because the average transaction time has dropped in recent years, they can handle about the same volume of sales on 36 terminals.

Two things have contributed to transaction times dropping, she explained. Very fast transaction approval times—1 to 1.5 seconds on average—with their broadband connection; and far fewer students paying by check.

“It’s all very organized,” said Howard. “We’re very busy, but we try not to project a sense of hurriedness. We’re fast and efficient, while still attentive to the customers’ needs and questions.”

Online sales from the store’s website (www.sbsmsu.com) have also been successful. Some students order their books online over the summer so they’ll have time to review them before class.

The website also allows MSU alumni and supporters from anywhere to find apparel and gifts and gear, from $5 window decals to $550 leather armchairs. According to the website, the store is “the largest, most complete and best stocked purveyor of Spartan gear in the country,” with 33 areas or departments online.

Student Book Store has been a member of MRA for nearly 30 years. In addition to using Retailers Mutual Insurance Company for workers’ compensation, Howard appreciates MRA’s legislative work, which is why he also contributes generously to the MRA PAC.

“MRA has been extremely effective and valuable in two efforts to help independent student bookstores get a level playing field,” Howard said.

“Many years ago we turned to MRA for help when university-run book stores didn’t have to charge sales tax, giving them an obviously unfair advantage,” he recalled. “We haven’t forgotten the way MRA helped us achieve fairness with that issue.”

This year, MRA has been instrumental in helping with another “level playing field” issue affecting one of Ballein’s sister stores, the Student Book Exchange in Mount Pleasant. The issue is working its way through the legislature.

Ballein encourages other retailers to consider using MRA when they face problems that might require the attention of a legislator.

“As far as lobbying work, they have taken our interests to heart and been great,” said Howard. “We don’t need them very often, but when we do, they’re workhorses.”

This article was written by Amy Buttery, Michigan Retailer staff writer.