Sold!
owever, the end of
World War I In 1918
found these Associated
Students in serious financial
trouble. They were forced to sell the
bookstore to cover an extended
football contract for their Rose Howl
winning coach, Hugo Uezdck. I he
fledgling bookstore was sold to
druggist Sidney Allen! For the next
two years, and only during that
time, it did not belong to the
students and faculty.
Co-Op
tudents were the creators of
_the first U of O bookstore. It
happened in the spring of 1916 in a
small, rented house where we are
today. These ASIJO members had a
goal-to provide a convenient, eco
nomical center for distribution of
books and supplies. And toward
that goal, they loaned $4000 from
their general fund for their new
bookstore enterprise. On September
15th. 1916 the doors opened for
business.
Chapman Hall, where the bookstore
resided on the lower floor for 25 years.
1920 found faculty and students setting up a more organized, coopera
tive bookstore—complete with Hv-laws and Articles of Association. A line
of credit from stationer J.K. Gill of the J.K. Gill Company in Portland, a
fast friend of the University, enabled the bookstore to reopen as 1 he
University of Oregon Cooperative Store.
As the store grew and J.K. Gill Company could no longer meet their credit
needs. The University Supply Company was created to finance the co-op.
man of stock were issued and purchased primarily by (acuity
Imm
Original Bookstore Board Menlbers.
rowth.Expansion.
Hie next several years
brought all all of these
for the now incorporated
University of Oregon Book
store. Inc., along with World
War 11 and the Korean War.
C«I's using their benefits in
creased University enrollment,
motivating the Bookstore in
1961 to buy the College Side
Inn building at 13th &
Kincaid, and construct in
phases, its final home.
Growth. Expansion.
Relocation.
jjjjH aby Boomers kept growth going in the sixties. Sales at the
SB bookstore went from $1.580.000 in 1966 to $6,324,000 in
1984. Major store remodeling and addition of a warehouse put the
bookstore in step with these times. By the eighties, the bookstore
had evolved from its simple beginnings—a house storing lx>oks (or
students, to a large 36.000 square foot, multi-service book and
supply store.
Prince Lucien Campbell,
first President of the U of O
invested $500 of his own
money in stock in the
U of O Cooperative Store.
Students bought defense stamps at the
bookstore during World War II
art land became the site of the first branch
store in 1989. At the request of the University.
the bookstore opened the Portland Center Store to help the U of O meet the needs of a large
number of alumni and friends in Portland. University sportswear and emblematic gilts arc
featured there.
This expansion was followed in 1991 by creation of a branch store in Uiwrence
art material supply for Architecture and Allied Arts students and faculty.
1 lall to improve
The same year, the Athletic Department asked for a branch store In the newly built Casanova
Center. The attractive Duck Shop oilers University sportswear and emblematic Items to Ians
at Autzen Stadium.
I members at $100 per share.
■ ovv the Co-op could directly contact
publishers and manufacturers, saving
xts money and building a helpful
surplus of stock in the inflated twenties.
By 1933. the store was successful enough
to purchase all remaining stock and was
financially on its own!
Marion McClain, the first General Manager of the U of O
Cooperative Store from 1920 1947 personally signed a
loan to begin the bookstore and invested in the University
Supply Company.
Gerald Henson. Bookstore General Manager from
1947 1976 began as a shelf stocker at the book
store. He was known for his honesty and character.
The College Side Inn. site of our present building, was a source of
much controversy in 1963. Beautifully designed by W.R.B.Wilcox.
it was loved as a landmark, but had fallen into serious disrepair.
It required a very large
amount of money to
bring up to health and
safety codes. Co-op
members passed a mo
tion to raze the College
Side Inn to construct
our current store by a
mere handful of votes!
<>da\\ afh'r more thar? 70 yeare. the
bookstore has emerged as one of
the nu)dei. state of thr-nrt4M*uk^Ujrc>,
in the country with sales of
over $1 1,500.000. Recent |
computeriaition. remodeling |
and management reorgani
zation have enabled
bookstore to truly come
of age in the nineties.> £ ^ ,