For the first time in years, Union University has returned to having a bookstore on the Jackson campus: The Bulldog Depot. The bookstore opened for the first time this fall in the Student Union Building, providing a new method for students to order textbooks and a physical location to buy university merchandise.
“The Bulldog Depot has been in the works since the fall of 2019. In the late fall of 2021 offices were relocated for the Bulldog Depot location and construction began in the spring of 2022,” Rick Taphorn, Vice President for Business Affairs, said.
“The Bulldog Depot is the university’s new home for school merchandise,” Wesley Calvert, manager for the Bulldog Depot, said. “I think the biggest advantage of having an on-campus store for students is the new Buster Book Bundle which takes a lot of the stress of trying to source your required materials away.”
The Buster Book Bundle is a new service offered by Union. It is a blanket program that allows students to sign up and have their required textbooks automatically ordered for them.
“The program goes further than that, however,” Taphorn said. “The Buster Book Bundle, which provides students with an affordable rental program that includes all required textbooks, lab manuals, and access codes, the program ensures that students have their course materials on the first day of class.”
New programs can be a challenge, as maintained by both Taphorn and Calvert.
“Any time a new program of this magnitude is created, challenges arise. We knew there would be some challenges, but supply chain issues from publishers created an even greater difficulty,” Taphorn said. “Now that the Bulldog Depot has most of the inventory, we do not expect those same challenges in the spring semester.”
“Any time you are introducing a brand new program to such a large number of people it’s to be expected,” Calvert said. “But we have learned a lot and the students’ experiences will only get better as everyone’s knowledge of the program grows.”
Another function of the Bulldog Depot is carried out as being a provider of university merchandise. The store offers apparel, water bottles and school supplies.
Anna Meadows, a student worker in the Bulldog Depot, said, “Having it here is nice because it’s close and people can come in and get what they’re looking for.”
Union has plans for the future of the merchandise in the store.
“Going forward, you should expect to see different apparel, including Nike polo shirts—the most requested item,” Taphorn said.
The Bulldog Depot is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays or available at bookstore.uu.edu on the web.
Photo by Wyatt Spahn.
