Arlyn Schaufler
President, ICBA Board of Directors
The
ICBA Board recently returned from our annual retreat and I can honestly say
that we are energized with our commitment to being the foremost advocate for
independent college bookstores. It is a pivotal time for bookstores and our
industry is facing many challenges; however, ICBA remains uniquely poised to be
the leading resource for stores by providing our members with the education, key
partnerships and communication that they need to succeed as independent stores.
High-Value Education
We
strive to provide our members with the highest quality education that leads to
innovation and that, ultimately, leads to a positive impact on store
performance. This comes in many forms,
but most specifically through our ICBA Retail Conference. Planning for the 2016
conference is well under way and just this week we opened registration for Stores
and Vendors. As in the past,
you can expect to engage with industry thought leaders through meaningful and
relevant sessions and participate in valuable networking with peers.
For 2016,
we are adding the additional opportunity for apparel buyers to receive formal
training through our Apparel Institute, which takes place immediately preceding
the ICBA Retail Conference. The Apparel Institute will offer a comprehensive
and challenging curriculum to help apparel buyers at all skill levels. Industry experts will provide Buyers with
curriculum developed specifically for the college retail market, at the same
time allowing for meaningful interaction between peers.
More
imminently, though, we are gearing up for our Fall Season of webinars. Our
webinars are crafted to feature insights and case studies from peer
institutions, industry leaders and vendors. Stay tuned for more details which will be forthcoming in the next few
weeks.
Vendor Partnerships
ICBA
strives to remain responsive to our membership’s needs and one way in which we
make this happen is by leveraging our resources across key vendor partnerships.
In particular, we are working to provide our stores with exclusive offers from
high quality vendors and service providers that will contribute to increased
profitability and customer satisfaction. We’re excited to report that we have already onboarded several new
vendors and are in the process of qualifying more.
Communication
One topic
that resonated throughout the retreat was our need for increased communication
to our members. With that said, we will
be planning regular communications going forward, both from the ICBA staff and
the Board. Acknowledging that
communication shouldn’t be a one-way street, we’d also like to hear from
you. Please keep an eye out for
occasional inquiries from ICBA about how we are doing and what challenges you
encounter that we can help address. And,
if you are not already, please follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook so
you can keep apprised of the latest from ICBA, our partners and industry news.
A Fond Farewell
It’s
been a lot of work, but the new ICBA office is now up and running in Chicago! Sadly, with the establishment of our new
office in the Windy City comes the winding down of our operations in Ashland
and I would be remiss to celebrate new faces without taking a moment to
recognize some very familiar ones. Stacy
Waymire, Skye Carlson, Charlie McChesney and Tammi Raikes have worked
diligently behind the scenes for the past few months, preparing for the
transition to the Chicago office and ensuring that everything is done
seamlessly. At the end of this month,
the Ashland office will officially close and we will say goodbye to Charlie and
Tammi. Skye will stay on through the end of September while Stacy will continue
working with the new ICBA staff through the completion of the ICBA Retail
Conference in February 2016. The Board and I cannot express enough gratitude to
Stacy, Skye, Charlie and Tammi for their dedication to the organization and
most importantly, to its members. They
have been ICBA’s advocates, friends, and family throughout the years and have
tirelessly worked to bring ICBA’s mission to life. We will sincerely miss them and wish them all
the best in their future endeavors and successes!
My Best,
