Store History
The Princeton University Store is a not-for-profit cooperative society whose members share in the profits. As a co-op, it operates differently from an ordinary corporation. It is governed by a Board of Trustees made up of students, faculty, administrators, and alumni, and instead of paying dividends to Wall Street shareholders it gives discounts to its members. Members receive a 10% discount on nearly everything in the store. The store has two current locations; 114-116 Nassau Street, which opened in 2007, and its on campus location. Last year U-Store members received nearly $500,000 in discounts on all merchandise. Co-op membership now includes over 75,000 active members.
Princeton University Store History from 1896-Present Day
Princeton University Store stands out as an unusual institution among retailers. For over a hundred years the Princeton University Store has remained an independent bookstore, and it is also a co-op--one of the oldest in the country. Not very many retail business last a hundred years. In Princeton, the U-Store is the oldest business still in operation; nationally the U-Store is older than Barnes and Nobel or Neiman-Marcus. Begun in 1896 as a student enterprise in a single dorm room in West College, the store organized as a campus cooperative in 1905, a year before the completion of Lake Carnegie, and more than forty years before Firestone Library was built.
With the support of Dean Henry Fine in 1880 and University Secretary Charles McAlpin 1888, undergraduates Robert C. McNamara 1903 and Benjamin Franklin Bunn 1907 managed the new store's vigorous expansion to the entire first floor of West College.
Ben Bunn (known as "Mr. Princeton") for his engagement with and support of his alma mater) managed the store until 1947, and was responsible for adding most of the departments the store has today.
In 1958, under the direction of Frederick John "Jack" Worthington, who succeeded Ben Bunn in 1947, the store moved to a building of its own (designed by Eldredge Snyder '22) at 36 UniversityPlace.
(West College Princeton University Store Location 1950)
Following Worthington's retirement Donald C. Broderick became store president. He was succeeded by the store's current president, James R. Sykes.
In 1989 a third floor was added to the top of the building and under Sykes's direction the major remake of 2000 refurbished all three floors, added a second elevator, and reconfigured the front staircase.
November 2007 a second location was opened on Nassau Street. The Nassau Street location took over as the main apparel location for the Princeton University Store.
The University Place store was again remolded in 2008, shifting the primary focus onto food, technology, and dorm needs. The University Place store also houses a Pharmacy, Clinique Store and Pequod Printing Servicies.
(University Place Location Grand Re-Opening)
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