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Name of new bookstore announced
September 16, 2006
Bookstore officials announced this week the name of the planned new location for the store at the corner of Garfield Street and Pacific Avenue.
The Garfield Book Company at PLU, as the store will be called, should be open by spring. The bookstore will be the anchor tenant in Garfield Commons, a 32,000-square-foot retail complex located at Pacific Avenue and Garfield Street.
Along with its partner in the development, Lorig Associates of Seattle, PLU also named several of the tenants to be housed in Garfield Commons, including Firehouse Coffee, Farelli’s Gourmet Wood Fire Pizza, Desert Sun Tanning and a UPS Store.
The building is part of a plan to reinvigorate Garfield Street businesses with increased pedestrian traffic from campus to Garfield Commons and provide opportunities for further economic development of the area.
With the completion of the new location, the existing bookstore in the University Center will close. The University Center is slated for renovation during the summer of 2007, and the space now occupied by the bookstore will – according to current plans – be turned into meeting rooms.
Mark Mulder, director of auxiliary services, dubbed the new store a “community embraced” bookstore. By placing it off campus, the store will provide easy access for the community and build a stronger connection between PLU and its neighbors, he explained.
“We’re adding to the foundation of really being the community resource, both for the campus community and the surrounding community,” Mulder said.
The bookstore will provide the typical items carried by college bookstores, such as textbooks, school supplies and clothing, but it will also provide products for the greater Parkland community.
It will feature a large general book area, placing academic titles alongside popular favorites, a children’s learning area, a resource center for home-schooled students and innovative teaching and learning resources for students and parents based on curriculum used in surrounding school districts. Additionally, the store will carry fair-trade global products and Pacific Northwest gifts.
The new site will be an active place, featuring two programming areas, the Fireside Lounge and Community Room. The lounge will host authors, local musicians, cooking demonstrations by national chefs and children’s reading time, while the Community Room is geared toward classes, conferences and larger events.
“We’re really emphasizing that it is local, independent and community based bookstore,” Mulder said. “We have the ability to respond to people’s ideas and needs.”
Farrelli’s is a family-owned and operated restaurant that is known for its signature applewood-fired pizza. The restaurant focuses on quality ingredients and encourages employees to be involved in creating new recipes, Mulder said.
The Garfield Commons location will be the second shop for Firehouse Coffee, which was established by a western Washington firefighter. The company serves only fair-trade, certified 100 percent organic coffee, and it donates a portion of its sales to community-based organizations.
The other two tenants, Desert Sun Tanning Salon and the UPS Store, are both national chains, but the franchises are owned locally. Desert Sun offers a range of tanning services and products, and the UPS Store provides a variety of services, including packaging, shipping, and document and postal services.
Mulder said more than 80 percent of the retail spaces were leased before the project broke ground last spring. It is possible that additional tenants will be announced before the building opens in late spring 2007, he said.
Garfield Commons is a joint project between PLU and Lorig Associates. Lorig Associates has also worked with the university on South Hall, Xavier Hall and the newly opened Morken Center for Learning and Technology.
Along with its partner in the development, Lorig Associates of Seattle, PLU also named several of the tenants to be housed in Garfield Commons, including Firehouse Coffee, Farelli’s Gourmet Wood Fire Pizza, Desert Sun Tanning and a UPS Store.
The building is part of a plan to reinvigorate Garfield Street businesses with increased pedestrian traffic from campus to Garfield Commons and provide opportunities for further economic development of the area.
With the completion of the new location, the existing bookstore in the University Center will close. The University Center is slated for renovation during the summer of 2007, and the space now occupied by the bookstore will – according to current plans – be turned into meeting rooms.
Mark Mulder, director of auxiliary services, dubbed the new store a “community embraced” bookstore. By placing it off campus, the store will provide easy access for the community and build a stronger connection between PLU and its neighbors, he explained.
“We’re adding to the foundation of really being the community resource, both for the campus community and the surrounding community,” Mulder said.
The bookstore will provide the typical items carried by college bookstores, such as textbooks, school supplies and clothing, but it will also provide products for the greater Parkland community.
It will feature a large general book area, placing academic titles alongside popular favorites, a children’s learning area, a resource center for home-schooled students and innovative teaching and learning resources for students and parents based on curriculum used in surrounding school districts. Additionally, the store will carry fair-trade global products and Pacific Northwest gifts.
The new site will be an active place, featuring two programming areas, the Fireside Lounge and Community Room. The lounge will host authors, local musicians, cooking demonstrations by national chefs and children’s reading time, while the Community Room is geared toward classes, conferences and larger events.
“We’re really emphasizing that it is local, independent and community based bookstore,” Mulder said. “We have the ability to respond to people’s ideas and needs.”
Farrelli’s is a family-owned and operated restaurant that is known for its signature applewood-fired pizza. The restaurant focuses on quality ingredients and encourages employees to be involved in creating new recipes, Mulder said.
The Garfield Commons location will be the second shop for Firehouse Coffee, which was established by a western Washington firefighter. The company serves only fair-trade, certified 100 percent organic coffee, and it donates a portion of its sales to community-based organizations.
The other two tenants, Desert Sun Tanning Salon and the UPS Store, are both national chains, but the franchises are owned locally. Desert Sun offers a range of tanning services and products, and the UPS Store provides a variety of services, including packaging, shipping, and document and postal services.
Mulder said more than 80 percent of the retail spaces were leased before the project broke ground last spring. It is possible that additional tenants will be announced before the building opens in late spring 2007, he said.
Garfield Commons is a joint project between PLU and Lorig Associates. Lorig Associates has also worked with the university on South Hall, Xavier Hall and the newly opened Morken Center for Learning and Technology.