For Immediate Release
Contact: Wendy Hinton
Director of Advancement Communications
King’s College
(570) 208-8130
wendyhinton@kings.edu

March 10, 2021 - King’s College announced today that in August 2021, upon the expiration of the lease agreement of the joint bookstore initiative undertaken with Wilkes University, it intends to establish a new King’s bookstore and spirit store within the heart of the King’s campus, at the location formerly occupied by S&W Restaurant at 149 North Main Street. The new location will open in August 2021. The College has selected eCampus, a well-respected online retailer of new, used, and electronic textbooks for sale or rent, study materials, and book buyback services to be its new provider for textbooks and materials for the new location as well as management of the campus store.

The joint venture between King’s, Wilkes University, and other partners located on Public Square began in 2006. In the fifteen years since, King’s has continued to invest significantly in downtown WilkesBarre, including removing and rebuilding blighted and vacant properties, and infusing people, resources, and energy into the city’s center. Just a few examples of these investments include the Alley Center for Health Sciences (formerly the Ramada Hotel on the northwest corner of Public Square), the Miners Memorial Park (on Public Square), the Mulligan Center for Engineering (formerly the Spring Brook Water Company building on North Franklin Street), the Chapel of Christ the King at the George and Giovita Maffei Family Commons (formerly the Memorial Church on North Street), and the Rev. Thomas O’Hara, C.S.C., Hall (the former Mary Macintosh and Corcoran Printing site on North Main Street).

The decision to return the bookstore to an on-campus location is influenced by the changing model of collegiate bookstores and the increasingly online-focused method of delivery for educational materials preferred by students, along with the desire to have an easily-accessible retail space on campus to purchase spirit store apparel and merchandise. To aid in this process, the College formed a bookstore selection committee composed of King’s community members representing students, faculty, facilities, business operations, alumni, and other key constituencies to request proposals from and review potential vendors, and ultimately make a recommendation to the administration for the new vendor. Those vendors that chose to submit proposals were rated based on ease of ordering, student experience (affordability, ordering, payment, delivery), faculty experience (adoption process, training, availability of resources), technology, confidence in follow-through of each vendor, and overall fit for King’s College. The committee unanimously endorsed eCampus as the College’s next partner in this area.

VP of business affairs, CFO, Janet Kobylski commented, “As I worked with the executive team at eCampus during the negotiation process, it was apparent they were very excited to become a part of the King’s College community and operate with the College’s and the students’ best interests at heart.”

King’s College student Grace Joy Dacey ’23, a pre-physician assistant student who also serves on the student government executive board, was a member of the committee and represented students’ interests in the selection of the new vendor. She said, “As a student at King’s College, I felt a disconnect to our campus book and spirit store. With our new plans for the bookstore, students will receive the benefits of high-quality made spirit wear, cheaper textbooks, and an on-campus experience. This bookstore will be fully oriented to King’s students and their needs. While I was on the committee, I represented my peers and their needs. Working with the committee was one of the highlights of 2020 for me; the committee was able to help decide the future of the King’s College community.”

For more information, please contact Wendy Hinton, director advancement communications, at wendyhinton@kings.edu or (570) 208-8130.