School supplier

With a new school year now in full swing, Chico State’s Wildcat Store is facing its busiest time of year as students line up for textbooks and school supplies and stop in for snacks, Chico State gear or local products—from Klean Kanteens to books from area authors. Store Director Sarah Foisy oversees everything that takes place at the eclectic college store. She sat down with the CN&R to chat about where the store has been and where it’s headed.

How long have you worked here?

I have been with the Wildcat Store for just over two years, and I love it here. Working with Chico State students, faculty and staff has been very rewarding, and it’s great to see the high level of involvement Chico State students have with their campus and community.

This is obviously the busy season, right?

Yes, back to school. It’s always the most exciting time, and having the students back on campus brings so much energy. Over the past few weeks, the bookstore team has put in a lot of prep work to ensure we’re ready to help students, faculty, staff and fans start the school year on the right foot—from textbooks to supplies and the latest spirit gear.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve experienced at the store?

Our store remodel that took place last January. Organizing the flow of events and ensuring we were ready for classes to start just one week after the remodel [was] completed was challenging. However, we have a wonderful team and everyone pulled together to make it happen!

How are things different since you took over as director?

We have more of an expansion on rental books available here. We have some new programs like the Price Match program that started this past year. It’s a program where you can see and compare textbook prices from our bookstore with Chegg, Amazon and other bookseller companies. You can find the Price Match program at our website: chicostatewildcatstore.com.

Any predictions for hot sellers this year?

Used and rental books are always big. We have a new vinyl album section this year, so I hope that is going to do well. We have a new book from the Book in Common project called My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem. We also have new clothing styles, so I can see a lot of new students getting excited about that.

What made you decide to sell vinyl?

Vinyl is one of the faster growing particular forms of music in the music industry right now. It seems to be more common of an interest than CDs nowadays. We’re carrying a variety of music from classic rock to more pop stuff like Kayne West.