In the News

IN THE NEWS

Putting the Standards to Work
Article (November 2024)

A well-designed campus store offers a welcoming place for shoppers and enables employees to work efficiently and productively. Unlike some other campus structures, however, the store may need more frequent updates, possibly even new construction, to continue to meet the expectations of students and other customers. Just because the store is the “official” retailer on campus doesn’t mean anyone will automatically shop there.

Maximize Your Membership
Article (November 2024)

Thanks to everyone who recently renewed your membership with NACS. Many benefits are available to members of NACS. I thought this would be a great time to remind everyone of the value and many opportunities that membership in our association offers.

Putting the Standards to Work
Article (September 2024)

In order to fulfill their mission to their institutions and serve their customers well, campus stores must stay up-to-date on trends and innovations in merchandise, operations, leadership, and more. However, the pace of change is swift and stores can easily fall behind on best practices, leading to lower performance, dissatisfaction from administration and constituents, and possibly even a change in management model.

Consistency Matters
Article (September 2024)

Many things in life are important to me, but I have always felt one of the most important is to strive to maintain consistency in everything I do. The Cambridge Dictionary states the definition for consistency as the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way, or of always happening in a similar way.

Tune in to CSI
Article (June 2024)

While most people are familiar with the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) TV franchise, where skilled teams in various big cities use cutting-edge technology and forensic science to get to the bottom of crimes, there’s another, newer type of CSI in town that can help campus stores showcase their successes and learn where they don’t quite measure up to their peers so they can improve their game.

A Time of Transition
Article (June 2024)

It is hard to believe that the Standards Project Update column turned three years old in March. Time flies when you are having fun! During that time the goal of this column—to keep readers informed about the NACS Foundation Standards Project—has been achieved. In fact, when the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) published the new Campus Store Standards in February, the “project” was essentially completed so the name for this recurring column has already become dated.

Putting the Standards to Use
Article (June 2024)

What would happen if a key store employee left their position, possibly unexpectedly? Cross-training employees can offer a short-term safety net, but succession planning provides a more comprehensive solution. It enables you to prepare for a vacancy in advance by identifying which positions are critical to operations and management and developing action plans for covering those openings, both in the interim and permanently.

The Evolution of Knowledge
Article (May 2024)

A TALE OF PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ADAPTATION. - While there are definable parts of the Campus Store Standards, always remember that there is
space for each institution to interpret what works best for their campus and students.

Powering the Project
Article (March 2024)

In the landscape of collegiate retail, where textbooks, merchandise, and campus essentials converge, Carol Miller Schaefer has crafted a legacy that will continue to impact the industry for years to come. With a career spanning decades and a rich  background in various sectors of retail, her career path developed an outlet for her passion of being a lifelong learner, culminating in her pivotal role as the NACS representative to the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS).

Real-World Application
Article (September 2023)

Once the college store standards are completed and then approved by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS), the critical work of having the standards productively applied by stores will begin.

'You All Get an A!'
Article (July 2023)

As you have learned more and more about the NACS Foundation Standards Project since it was unveiled at CAMEX in 2020, you have no doubt seen a number of references to the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS: www.cas.edu) and that organization’s role in this process.

A New Milestone
Article (May 2023)

You may be familiar with the NACS motto “If it’s important to you, it’s important to us.” According to Robb Faust, the NACS learning and program development director, this is more than just a slogan—it is the philosophy that guides how NACS determines the focus of its work, including its educational offerings.

Applying the Financial Resources
Article (January 2023)

While work continues on developing performance standards in various categories of the NACS Foundation Standards Project, we are also focused on helping college stores apply standards that have already been published. To learn more about how stores can concretely benefit from the published standards, we turned to two experienced store managers who have been instrumental in moving the project forward and who have specific advice on applying the Financial Resources standards.

Building a Long-Term Legacy
Article (November 2022)

The NACS Foundation Standards Project has been described as a multi-year undertaking designed to ensure that independent college stores have access to the data and tools that they need to be successful. But what does multi-year mean to this project? Two years have already been invested in writing standards and creating the Campus Store Insights (CSI) platform

More Benefits of Standards
Article (September 2022)

There has been an incredible amount of progress made on the NACS Foundation Standards Project since it was first unveiled to the NACS membership at CAMEX in New Orleans in 2020. Highlights include the identification of categories of standards to be prioritized, the establishment of a number of volunteer working groups, the development and validation of sets of standards, and the recent rollout of the industry’s exciting new interactive benchmarking tool, Campus Store Insights (CSI).

CSI Platform Goes Live
Article (July 2022)

One year ago, we shared with you our plans for Campus Store Insights (CSI), a game-changing tool developed through the NACS Foundation Standards Project in partnership with NACS. We are pleased to announce that those plans have come to fruition and the CSI business intelligence and data visualization platform is now live and available.

Leveraging A Culture Of Assessment
Article (May 2022)

By now, you are most likely familiar with the NACS Foundation Standards Project. You know that it will provide stores with the information and the tools needed to measure their performance on an ongoing and consistent manner, industry data to compare results to that of their peers, and resources to assist in driving operational improvement.

Know The Score
Article (March 2022)

The purpose of the scorecards is to permit a campus store to complete self-evaluations that compare the store’s performance, operations, and campus protocols to established industry standards. These tools include the project’s collegiate retail industry standards and guidelines that have been developed to guide campus stores and enhance their success.

Not Your Standard Standards
Article (January 2022)

In many of the articles and presentations related to the NACS Foundation’s Standards Project, there have been a number of references to the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education or “CAS.” Let’s take a look at who this organization is and how their involvement will benefit this critical industry undertaking.

It Takes An Industry
Article (November 2021)

College store managers. Course materials managers. General merchandise managers. Auxiliary services directors. Digital content providers. Publishers. Retail systems providers. Used book distributors.

Eighty professionals in all. What do all of these individuals have in common?

Working Together
Article (September 2021)

Significant progress continues to be made on the NACS Foundation Standards Project with the Financial Resources standards written, the section on Course Materials in development, and General Merchandise next in line. While the initial goal of the project is...

Game-Changer
Article (July 2021)

Ever since the NACS Foundation’s Standards Project was unveiled at CAMEX last year, interest among college stores has been building. So has the project’s momentum.
Working groups of campus store professionals continue to craft the project’s standards, business partners are collaborating on related solutions...

What's In It For You?
Article (May 2021)

By now, you’re probably familiar with the NACS Foundation Standards Project. You know that it will provide a set of approved industry standards and that it is being developed to help campus stores achieve or maintain excellent operational results.

Setting Standards
Article (March 2021)

Anyone working in college stores and related businesses today knows that the industry’s world has changed dramatically over the last few years. The word “disruption” immediately comes to mind.
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