Botched orders at Yale Co-op worry professors

When the Yale Co-op moved to its new location on the New Haven Green a year ago, many predicted it would not survive. Now, an unusually high number of complaints concerning coursebook sales may signal trouble for the venerable store.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH VACANT AISLES: Unreliable textbook availability at the Yale Co-op is hurting the business's attempt to compete with the Yale Bookstore.

Organic chemistry lecturer Christine DiMeglio was surprised to hear, on Fri., Sept. 4, that none of the 270 lab texts she ordered through the Co-op was in the store. Even more surprising, she said, was the fact that the book's publisher, Freeman Publishing Company--not the Co-op--notified her of the delay. "[The Co-op] said nothing to me," she said, adding that a week earlier the store had assured her that there would be no problem getting the books. Perturbed, she immediately canceled her order and placed it with the Barnes & Noble-owned Yale Bookstore.

According to DiMeglio, Freeman told her the order was withheld because the Co-op was experiencing "some financial problems," an allegation the Co-op's chairman of the board, Bill March, denies. March maintains that everything is running smoothly and that the Co-op will continue to "see how the competitive situation works out." He acknowledged that last year's move was expensive, but claimed that sales figures for the first fiscal year in the new location were "very good."

Financially troubled or not, the Co-op continues to receive complaints. Some students found the books they were looking for only to realize they had the wrong edition. For example, students in Professor David Pearce's and Professor Anne Huff Stevens's economics classes had to wait for the Co-op to reorder the correct edition of the texts, a snafu the store blamed on the publisher's warehouse. Pearce said he was pleased with the Co-op's responsiveness in addressing the problem. Other students were not so lucky. Amanda Kaplan, ES '00, who went to the Co-op in search of books for her Spanish literature class, "The Politics of Identity in Latino and Chicano U.S. Literature," went home empty-handed. "The [saleswoman at the Co-op] was helpful in trying to find the book, but it was not there," Kaplan said.

Many students and professors found books that had been ordered exclusively at the Co-op mysteriously appearing at the Bookstore. Nancy Fresco, GRD '99, a teaching assistant for Professor Gordon Geballe's, GRD '81, Introduction to Environmental Studies, began spinning conspiracy theories and "wondered whether there were spies" when she found the books for the class at both the Co-op, where they had been ordered, and at the Yale Bookstore.

Yale Bookstore General Manager Gary Spearow said that the books appeared as a result of the store's drive to take care of students' needs. "We look at the students as our students," Spearow said. "If a student says he or she is having difficulty finding a book, we'll give a 48-hour guarantee that we'll get it for them."

Spearow added that students searching for books often come in groups and, as a result, the Bookstore will often order more than one copy of a book, even if the professor did not contact them. Spearow said, "We deal with the individual first but will follow through and contact the professor and order more books if the whole class is in trouble."

Despite the David-and-Goliath nature of the competition, few students or professors are taking sides. Although frustrated by the inconvenience of having to wait, DiMeglio said she has nothing personal against the Co-op. Geballe said he is a "supporter of their attempt to make a go of it downtown," but that he wishes both stores well. He said he ordered from the Co-op simply because he's used to it and was a Co-op member when he was a gradate student.

Bob Rich, DC '00, said his reasons for shopping at the Bookstore were practical and not political. He said he bought one book at the Co-op last semester but hasn't gone back simply because his professors have placed orders with the Bookstore. The Co-op is "no cheaper," Rich said. "That's the bottom line, unfortunately."

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