Located in the Hammon Student Center, the Harding University Bookstore is where the Harding community can buy items to show their support for the school. The bookstore is constantly renewing its inventory with a wide variety of clothing and products.
Kellee Blickenstaff is the current sportswear and gift buyer for the bookstore; she has held that position for the past 10 years. She is an alumna and the cheerleading team’s sponsor. She also said she is a big sports fan, a former cheerleader who is married to a former Harding quarterback, and her two children are attending Harding. Her background made her the perfect fit for the job.
As a student, she said she realized that there were few options available for students to wear Harding apparel during athletic events. She said she was a sports fan who loved to show her support for the Bisons, but said she had problems finding gray or black T-shirts to wear. At the time, the bookstore used to sell mostly navy blue sweatshirts with Harding in white letters. Other options were rarely available.
Mel Sansom, the vice president of finance and Chancellor David Burks, who was president at the time, asked her to become the buyer for the bookstore. Since then, the bookstore has increased the alternatives. Now, the bookstore receives new merchandise on a weekly basis and provides high quality apparel at the lowest prices possible to students, faculty and visitors, Blickenstaff said.
“We want Harding’s name out there,” Blickenstaff said. “We want items out there with people proudly wearing it. And I think that we have achieved that.”
With the intention of providing service to people that otherwise would not visit the student center, the bookstore acquired a trailer. With this addition, the bookstore is now able to participate at any sport event and venue.
During this semester, the trailer has been parked at every football tailgating event. According to David Hall, the bookstore manager, the feedback from people is positive.
“The response has been great,” Hall said. “Everybody who sees it just thinks it is the neatest thing. By and large, a lot of the people are appreciative that we are taking the time to be there because even though we are selling products, we are not there simply to make money; we are there to add another dimension to the experience.”
Blickenstaff said there are two main buying seasons during the year, which occur while preparing for the beginning of each semester. However, she said providing for Harding is different from a state university, where items can be purchased only at the bookstore.
As Hall said, students who have not visited the bookstore for several weeks will notice there are products that will be gone and have been replaced with new ones instead. All this work is done to serve the Harding community and allow it to show its support for the university.
The bookstore is open Monday through Saturday. It is open on weekdays between 8:15 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., and on Saturdays between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
