Student Stores was a non-profit store selling new textbooks, used textbooks, and school supplies. The store was started by students and former at ISU. We bought the books from the publishers and sold them at a 1% markup. Within a few years the store was doing almost million in gross sales. We also operated a record store and a notetaking service. Our notetaking service use graduate students to sit in on undegraduate classes to take notes. Which we then type up and mimeographed. The next day students came by and picked up their notes. The notetaking service was a big hit.

The bookstore side went bankrupt in 1975 due to gross incompetence. It was a hippy run store with hippies playing store. For example, one semester the ordering people didn't bother check the inventory before ordering new textbooks. I recall look at a stack of $40 books that didn't have to be ordered new but was.

The first day I walked into the store summer of 1974 there were papers in little piles all over the store. They said they were sorting hundreds of book orders from teachers by order's publisher so they could send out orders to the publisher. There was over 300 publishers that the book orders needed to be sorted to. You could hardly walk in the store.

I asked them if they ever heard of a paper sorter. No one had a clue what I was talking about. I said I'll buy one and come back with it. They were blown away when I returned with one. They thought I was coming back with some kind of a machine. The paper storters really cleaned up the mess in the store that day. At least now you could walk into the store.

The store died during Fall semester August Sales of 1975. What happen was that the Student goverment screwed up big time and killed the store.

At the time the Student goverment wanted to get involved so we let them take over the selling of our used books. The Student Govemnet sent the summer of 1975 sorting the books. When they set up their store next to us in the Catholic Newman center on campus they arranged all the used books alphabetically by Author. Bad move. The store sorted the books out by department and by course level and then by the book.

One the first day of Class studnets may know the teacher, and the course #, but they probably don't know the author. If they've been to class they would know it. But most students skip going to class to buy their books. Students gotta have have their books the first day of class. Its like a security blanket. They may never look at the book again but they gotta have it that that first day of class.

So a massive line formed that strangled the store. Students got in line first for used books because they are cheaper. But the line moved so slow cause hardly anyone knew the author. Also students got into the wrong line thinking they were in the used book line but were actually in the new line. Every once in awhile someone from the store would shout out: "This line used books, this line new books".

We also hung a big sign on a tree in front of the Newman center to sperated the lines out. One arrow pointed to the Used book line and another arrow pointed to the New book line.

The only problem was the sign, a very simple sign with a simple message was done psycedellically and almost impossible to read. I complained to the stores powers that be, but it did nothing.

So the net result was the store was that new book sales were way down everyone was in the line trying to buy used books. I and a few other students tried to save the store by resorting the used books. We were up the whole night but were only able to to resort about half the used books. The were several thousand used books.

So....Student Stores is arising from the ashes. Soon there will be: on-profit drug stores, gas stations, housing, and auto repair... (Its almost a imbossibility to find a honest and a cheap car mechanic in America.)

I got my start in computers from the store. At the store I was in charge of computer operations. The thing about comptuers is once you enter the information into the computer you don't have to re-enter it. The computer can massage the data and spit out all kinds of reports: Inventory Orders, etc.

I tried to computerize the store. I hired people to do the work. I couldn't write the computer programs, but I knew what a computer could and could not due. I worked as a systems anaylst and designed the system. I got college programming classes to write the programs for me as part of their class assignements. and ran the computer programs on rented computer time off campus.

After the store collapsed I wanted to learn more about programing so I went to the best school for computer programmig at the time in the 1970's. Most programmers start at the bottom as a programmer and work their way up to management. I did it in reverese I started in computer management and worked my way down to systems programmer.

The Great American Book Exchange

One system worked off main computers using mark sense forms. Others worked off early pc's. In the mid 90's I was reading a article in Newsweek about the 10 best ideas for the ineternet. One was a idea for making a online Book Exchange. My reaction was: "great I don't have to do it".

However, to my dismay 5 years later I didn't find one Book Exchange that would meet my standards. So I decided to write my own and do it right. Hence the the Great American Book Exchange. Enjoy!!!

Reasons Why Online Book Exchanges Fail