New bookstore manager brings
experience to campus

Jeremy Johnson "I was trained for a diverse large university that awarded everything from an AA to a Ph.D. And I was trained to do things above and beyond a bookstore."

Jeremy Johnson, the new bookstore manager, knows he has a job in front of him when it comes to meeting each new crop of students.

"We have to get it right at the beginning of each term or we'll lose them for the rest of the term. Or even worse we'll lose them the rest of their time at UNF," he said. Johnson grew up in Port Orange near Daytona and spent three years in the 82nd Airborne Division based out of Fort Bragg, N.C., including a stint in Desert Storm. Upon his return he enrolled at Florida State University where he began working in the FSU bookstore. After two years he was asked to be a part of the company's management training program.

"I was trained for a diverse large university that awarded everything from an AA to a Ph.D. And I was trained to do things above and beyond a bookstore," he said. That idea attracted him to Rollins College in Winter Park two years ago. "Their mission statement for the bookstore was to make it more integrated in the academic life," he said. "Rollins wanted a much more active bookstore so I staged 25 events a year, ranging from student groups, poetry readings, musical groups and faculty book signings." While the different events were fun, the unvarying student population didn't leave any room for growth, which is why he applied for a transfer to UNF when Follett took over the management of the bookstore in November.

As the largest college bookstore chain Follett buys for 700 stores and more than 10 million students, said Johnson. "Through the warehouse we share books from store to store," he said. "Our used book buying power is tremendous." Johnson welcomes opportunities for the bookstore to help sponsor student events and looks forward to having it become a stronger part of the university community. They are providing license plates for the front of cars for all the faculty identified in the first Student Choice Awards for Outstanding Faculty, helped fraternities and sororities pay for their Rush shirts and will help sponsor homecoming events. He also hopes to continue to bring the bookstore closer to the students by having satellite locations in Housing for book buy back at the end of the term and eventually setting up at athletic events to sell UNF merchandise. Faculty, staff and department purchases now receive a 20 percent discount with alumni also receiving a 10 percent discount.

Johnson is ready to do whatever needs to be done to keep his customers happy. 'We try to keep complaints from leaving the front door," he said.