New UC Davis Store to Open in Downtown Davis
Shopping for UC Davis merchandise is about to become much more convenient. UC Davis Stores, which operates the UC Davis Bookstore and other outlets, is opening a new location in the heart of downtown Davis. The new 4,200-square-foot store is set to open in early June at the southwest corner of Second and F streets. Its interior design is a coordinated effort by College Store Designs of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Design Services at UC Davis.
The new store will be tailored for downtown shoppers, offering a mix of gifts, apparel and convenience items. Core offerings will include Aggie Pride wear, UC Davis and City of Davis branded souvenirs and gift merchandise, plus a variety of fare including a complete line of school and office supplies, greeting cards, sundries, and convenience items. Plans include a convenient delivery service for special orders in the downtown area.
Also offered will be a screen embroidery customization service to add logos, names, mascots, and more to clothing and other items – a popular option for fraternities, sororities, clubs and other organizations. Says Charles Kratochvil, University Stores Director, “We appreciate the opportunity to bring this program to the downtown area of the City of Davis and believe it will be very successful and a welcome addition.”
The store, tentatively named “The UC Davis Store, Downtown,” will convey a sense of the university in décor and offerings, featuring the official blue and gold colors and products that present the full spectrum of the UC Davis experience. It will showcase products from the university’s new “Good Life Collection” for example, which includes items that highlight UC Davis’ tradition of improving our everyday experience from the food we eat to the integration of art and culture in our lives.
UC Davis scarves are one of the “Good Life Collection” product lines. These are high-quality decorative silk scarves that incorporate faculty and student artwork from UC Davis’ collections into their design. Until recently, the scarves have been produced only on a limited basis, but they are expected to be available for retail sale when the new store opens.
Our “Campus Grown” line of products emphasizes the sustainability mindset of UC Davis. This line includes UC Davis Olive Oil and new olive oil body products – olive oil based soaps and facial products made from olives harvested from trees on campus. Campus-grown products also include handcrafted wooden bowls, utensils, vases, and cutting boards made from UC Davis trees that required rigorous pruning or removal for health and safety reasons.
The new outlet will feature books from national best-sellers lists, as well as the works of such faculty authors as heralded fiction writer Yiyun Lee and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder from the university’s writing program. Shoppers will be able to purchase select books on topics of UC Davis academic strength, from American history to horticulture. Books chosen for the Campus Community Book Project, an annual program in which the university picks a book with a topic that becomes a centerpiece for community discussion, will also be available.
“Our inclusion in the mix of outstanding merchants in the downtown area will potentially assist in drawing more students, visitors, alumni, and community residents into the area,” says Kratochvil.
The new store will be the third largest of nine University Stores and the group’s first new store since the 2004 addition of the ARC Pro Shop, which is located in the Activities and Recreation Center on campus. A current full-time employee will supervise the new store, assisted by a complement of sales and service associates.
The new space is currently undergoing remodeling as it combines two formerly separate retail spaces. Strands, a hair salon that occupied one of the spaces, recently located around the corner to 135 F St. The other previous tenant, First Northern Bank’s real estate division, closed operations last year. UC Davis has signed a five-year lease for the space.
Operating hours will be subject to change as the store begins operation, as the goal of the store is to make it convenient for the downtown shoppers. Currently, hours are projected to be Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m.