Follett, the corporation in charge of the UF Bookstore, will soon manage all UF stadium sports stores and stands.
Starting Feb. 27, Follett will run all stores formerly managed by the LIDS Sports Group, because the contract was discontinued.
UF’s contract with the bookstore will be a separate contract from the sports stores on campus. Mike Spiegler, senior associate athletics director, said Follett will sell all current inventories in the stores.
“We reached out to Follett since they were already here on campus,” he said. “They do a great job at the bookstore. It’s a good fit for everyone at UF.”
Follett, like LIDS Sports Group, will pay UF a percentage of what they sell from the merchandise.
Nicole Neugebauer, a 19-year-old UF business freshman, said she’s concerned the prices will be expensive like the UF Bookstore merchandise.
“The stuff in the bookstore is a little overpriced,” she said. “If they’re taking over, I won’t be buying as much UF stuff on campus.”
But Lynne Vaughan, director of UF Bookstores, said prices will mostly remain the same.
“We are working to bring in new inventory for the stores as well,” she said.
Stadium store and stand employees will retain their current positions for the change.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 2/13/2014 under the headline "UF Bookstore parent company to manage stadium stores"]
