CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this op-ed contained an introduction that misstated the number of student stores owned by Follett nationwide. Follett owns more than 1,000 stores. The article has been updated to reflect this change.
THE ISSUE: Two months ago, Follett, a company that owns over a thousand student stores at universities nationwide, submitted a proposal to take over the operations of UNC’s Student Stores. View the opposing viewpoint here.
The employees and management at Student Stores are certainly hardworking people who do their jobs well — but the current University-managed model simply cannot compete against a national for-profit operation like Follett that has access to the economy of scale, management expertise and distribution network of a large private company.
Follett has offered to give UNC an estimated commission of at least $3 million annually for student scholarships, whereas the current model generated a much lower figure of $400,000 for scholarships this last year. Additionally, current employees would be guaranteed at least one additional year of employment at current pay in the store under the proposed deal.
