BGSU on Main open for business

The University has moved downtown with the Sept. 10 opening of BGSU on Main, a retail store at 133 S. Main St.

Located in the former home of the Beyond 2000 Ice Cream restaurant, BGSU on Main is an extension of the University Bookstore, carrying BGSU insignia clothing and gifts. A daily “Falcon Express” transfer service will even shuttle merchandise between the bookstore and the Peregrine Shop and BGSU on Main.

Tickets for campus events will be sold at the new store, beginning with athletics and adding music and theatre events in the near future.

General reading materials and a small selection of school and art supplies will be available as well, along with a Dell computer station. There, customers can access their email and order Dell and Apple computers online through the BGSU campus partnership.

The store also plans to offer some BGSU “signature” food items, such as coconut cream pie, and Dietsch’s ice cream from Findlay.

BGSU on Main will serve as a “goodwill ambassador” and source of information for other campus offices and departments. And in the future, it will handle sales of course materials for University classes taught at Bowling Green High School, Arrowhead Park in Maumee and other off-campus sites.

“Our goal is to increase institutional involvement in the community,” said Jeff Nelson, University Bookstore director, who will oversee the new store’s operation. “We want to make the connection between the University and the residents of Bowling Green.”

The bookstore, while successful in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union, identified a need for a more easily accessible retail outlet for BGSU logo merchandise. In addition to seeking retail space with appropriate size and a central Main Street location, University representatives searched for a site with ample and convenient parking and rear access to municipal parking.

BGSU on Main has roughly 1,500 square feet of retail space and a back entrance on the east side of the building, adjacent to a municipal metered parking lot.

The store supervisor is Kathy Shapler, a former University Bookstore employee who managed a Hallmark store before coming to BGSU.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. The store will be closed on Sundays. The hours will be adjusted based upon customer demand and will be extended at peak times such as the holiday shopping season in December.