Brigham Young University has the lowest book costs per student in the Big 12 and among the lowest in the country, with students spending an average of about $130 to $150 per semester on textbooks.
The BYU Store has been around for 119 years and has experienced many adaptations to accommodate technological and price changes over time.
It started in 1906 as the Student Supply Association, essentially a custodial closet used to supply classroom materials to students. In 1964, it moved into the Wilkinson Student Center, becoming the BYU Bookstore. Changing its name in 2014 to the BYU Store, it has become its own retailer with multiple product lines.
Back in 2006, the store celebrated its centennial by selling candy bars for five cents, or “1906 pricing,” a University Communications article said.
Since then, books have become a less significant percentage of total sales, and there are now five main channels that operate under BYU Retail Services: the main campus store, BYU Store websites (BYUstore.com and gocougs.com), Stadium Events and Game Center, the MTC store and salon services (Studio 1030 and the MTC barbershop) according to Mark Clegg, managing director of BYU Retail Services.
Clegg said in 2017, the BYU Store had its most recent remodel on the main level. These renovations and subsequent changes included a large screen with seating, a section added for the Nike clothing line, the Sweet Stop replacing the candy counter and a Y Mountain slide for children.
Roughly 9,000 people enter the store each day, and Clegg hopes that those customers will remember what’s special about BYU.
“It’s not a museum, it’s not meant to be a museum, but it is meant to be a place where fans of the BYU brand can come and be reminded about what it is that they love about BYU,” he said.
One of the things Clegg loves about BYU is its commitment to educating students at an affordable price.
“We believe in education,” he said. “We want education to be available for everybody, but that means that we’re going to have to work hard, be creative and do things differently than are done in other places.”
Clegg explained that in 2019, the BYU Store launched an initiative called “Student First” in order to creatively fulfill this commitment to affordable education. This was accomplished by renting textbooks to students for a low price and recovering purchase costs over time.
“We have a guarantee that you cannot rent it for less than from us. So if there is a competitor out there that has the exact same book, either for sale or for rent, we guarantee that our rental price will meet or beat their price,” Clegg said. “Truly, there’s no reason for a student to go anywhere else to get their textbooks.”
Clegg also estimates that the BYU Store has saved students tens of millions of dollars since 2019.
BYU Retail Services employs around 330 people, the majority of whom are students, Clegg said. He believes these student employees have a unique opportunity to practice what they are studying in real-life situations.
Paige Knudsen, a BYU entrepreneurship student, has been a graphic designer for BYU Retail Services for more than two years.
Although she doesn’t study design, she said that she has had many opportunities for experiential learning in her job.
“It’s more just hands-on experience,” she said. “Just being able to practice and be here and do those things, I think, is always helpful rather than just sitting in a classroom and reading about it.”
Employing students in accounting, supply chain, marketing and more, Clegg said he feels "We are uniquely positioned to provide students with real-life hands-on experience that is relevant to their future careers just because of the broad nature of what we do.”