MILL CREEK – The final coat of purple and gold paint is dry, and shelves are filled with books and Husky paraphernalia at the new University Book Store in Mill Creek Town Center.
The store at the corner of 153rd Street SE and Main Street is scheduled to open at 9 a.m. Friday, just in time for the holiday rush.
Originally, it was to have opened earlier this fall, but alterations to the building’s design caused delays, said Bryan Pearce, chief executive officer of the Seattle-based book retailer.
Pearce said he is excited to be opening a store in Snohomish County.
“Our primary motivation for putting a store up here is to follow our customers,” said Pearce, who has also lived in Mill Creek for about eight years. “We’ve actually been looking in this area for quite some time.”
The mix of retail and professional tenants on Mill Creek’s newly developed Main Street seemed like the perfect place for the store, he said.
At 16,000 square feet, University Book Store is the second-largest retail tenant in the Mill Creek Town Center development, after the Central Market, said Bill Trimm, the city’s community development director.
The store includes a coffee bar with tables, seats and couches surrounding a fireplace. Free wireless Internet access will be offered in that area, Pearce said.
“It really caters to people who want to grab a book and a cup of coffee or plug in a computer,” he said.
There’s also space for author readings, book signings and other events. Flat-screen televisions set among the University of Washington sweat shirts, hats and other items will show Husky football games and other UW sporting events. Art and student supplies comprise another section .
Then there are the aisles of books, with enough space for more than 50,000 different titles. Pearce said he thinks employees have done a good job of figuring out which books are most likely to be in demand among the area’s customers.
“Book selling is all about selecting titles and matching up titles with the customer base. University Book Store has been around for 105 years doing just that,” he said.
The store expects to make changes in some of its offerings as customers start requesting specific titles. Right now, the mix includes best-selling fiction titles, travel and lifestyle guides, and a relatively large number of books dealing with the hard sciences, from medical topics to building codes. One corner of the store is devoted to young adult and children’s books.
The Mill Creek store marks the ninth location for University Book Store, which dates back to 1900. The book company is an independent corporation whose profits are returned in the form of dividends and contributions to the UW campuses and students.
Pearce pointed out that the Mill Creek store will carry some Washington State University attire and gifts. But as might be expected from a business that started at the UW, the bookstore is partisan in its leanings, said Pearce, a UW graduate.
“We’re definitely a Husky store,” he said.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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