Employees at the new SBX Bookstore on 817 W. Walnut St. believe it is the best in customer service and offer strong competition in the college bookstore market.
SBX stands for Student Book Exchange and is a Barnes and Noble College Bookstore that opened on Dec. 1 next to Poor Richard’s Campus. “We are in a very convenient location to access from campus with plenty of parking,” manager Ellen Vance said.
The prime location plus their dedication to superior customer service will make SBX a strong competitor to the other bookstores, Vance said. “SBX Bookstore’s number one priority is customer service,” she said. “As a Barnes and Noble book store our customer satisfaction is high. At the new location we are better able to associate and chat with students to find out how to better meet their needs.”
Another benefit SBX offers is that they can offer students very competitive buyback prices for their used books. “As long as a professor has requested a book for the next term, we will pay 50 percent of the selling price, if it is a current edition in usable condition,” she said.
Aside from textbooks, SBX also offers school and office supplies, trade books, an online software ordering system, ETSU clothing and offers and accepts Barnes and Noble Gift Cards. In April SBX partnered with Office Depot and can now order items not available in the store and will have them delivered in 24 hours. “We’re really excited about it,” Vance said.
Since December business has been growing steadily and more students are coming in everyday, Vance said. ETSU junior Jenny Bauder said she found her recent trip to SBX to be a very successful one.
“The staff was very friendly and courteous and helped me find what I was looking for,” Bauder said. “I really felt comfortable there and they had everything I needed. It (the store) was very organized so I didn’t have to waste a lot of time just looking around.”
SBX is continually looking for more ways to offer students discounts, said Vance. They have recently started a promotion with the fraternities and sororities at ETSU and offer gift certificates to the organization whose members sell the most books back there.
SBX Bookstore is located at 817 W. Walnut St. in Johnson City. For more information call Ellen Vance at 926-4040.

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