George Mason bookstore reopens its doors as Rally House Aug. 26. (Isabella Pearlstein / Fourth Estate)

Students react to campus bookstore change

BY ISABELLA PEARLSTEIN, CULTURE EDITOR 

Over the summer, George Mason University ended its relationship with Barnes & Noble College, which has provided textbooks and college merchandise to the student body for the last 27 years.  

Now, Mason has contracted two distinct vendors, Rally House and eCampus.com, to provide similar services. The decision to change contracts was announced earlier this year with the full transition finalized July 1. 

Rally House is a family-owned specialty sports apparel and merchandise retailer stocking merchandise for hundreds of NCAA colleges and universities across 28 states. They serve top sports programs across the country, including the University of Alabama, Duke University, Harvard University, The Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University and University of Connecticut. 

eCampus.com is a popular online retailer that sells and rents new, used and electronic textbooks for K-12 and higher education institutions. The company also runs a book buyback service and offers a price match guarantee if the book is being sold at a lower price on another platform. 

Mason confirms that Patriot Tech, the on-campus technology store that offers products from technology companies such as Apple and Dell, will continue operations.  

The store, located in the Johnson Center, had a grand opening Aug. 26 featuring new George Mason merchandise such as mugs, stickers, apparel and even a section devoted to Virginia merch. The bottom floor, which used to have aisles of textbooks for immediate purchase, now houses more Mason apparel and Washington, D.C., sports teams apparel.  

Textbook pickup is still at the lower level, but students must order their textbooks online and pickup in-store or ship to their home.

Some students have expressed frustration with the new ordering process. Sylvia Goldener, a junior Biology major, compared her experience this semester to her previous years.  

“It is a bit frustrating, especially when I have a handful of entry-level, lower-level classes that the books still need to be shipped out, whereas in previous years I could just walk in and pick up the textbook,” Goldener explained. 

Monifa Agha, a junior International Security and Law major, usually orders physical copies of her textbooks but struggled to do so this semester. 

“It’s definitely become very difficult to find the right editions and the exact textbook that your school requires, especially if you’re a person who likes to study in person with the physical textbook along with your class,” Agha said. 

The Mason bookstore offers more George Mason merchandise and apparel on the ground floor. (Isabella Pearlstein / Fourth Estate)

Some students described a smoother online ordering process. Sophomore Computer Science major Clarence Tabuno had ordered his lab manual the day before he picked it up. 

“It did seem a little quicker, but I was mostly thrown off [because] I didn’t realize we had just changed [vendors],” he said. 

Aubree McAuliffe, a freshman Forensic Science major, also did not have any trouble ordering her materials. She ordered her textbooks a week before the semester and picked everything up during the first week of classes. 

“These new relationships allow us to take a more customized approach for the modern student in order to meet the evolving needs of our campuses,” said associate vice president of Auxiliary and Business Services Pascal Peter in a press release.