WTAMU will have a new store on campus starting the spring semester. The “Tech Store,” as it is being called, is scheduled to open in January and is part of the expansion of the Jack B. Kelly Student Center. The tech store will include tablets, programs, accessories and more technological equipment.
“The store will be about 1,400 to 1,500 square feet and will be located across from the post office in the JBK,” said Terry Nepper, manager of the WT Bookstore.
According to Nepper, the store will be a one-stop shop for students who need almost anything technological for their classes. The prices will be discounted on an educational level, so the items should be somewhat cheaper than they would be at other stores.
“I see brand new students hitting campus and some of them carry notebooks, but a lot of them carry tablets,” Nepper said. “Once the store is established, students will not have to go to Best Buy or Walmart to fill these needs, because we’ll have it for them on campus.”
Some students are excited about the tech store, while others think it will take some time before students decide to buy these types of things on campus.
“I think the store is a great idea,” Keegan King, a junior Advertising and Public Relations major, said. “Since our world has evolved into a more technological society where everyone is connected, it makes sense that WT thought to put a store like this on campus.”
People who are in charge of the tech store hope they will eventually be able to identify and satisfy student’s needs.
“It’s a good idea, but it might take students a while to catch on,” Toby Cummings, a junior Engineering major, said. “We are all so used to getting our technological stuff from a certain place, so it might be hard to make a transition from purchasing from big stores like Best Buy to purchasing from your university’s tech store.”
One thing that will not be available in the tech store is cellular phones.
“There are so many plans and carriers available and a lot of people already have plans, whether it’s a family plan or their own,” Nepper said. “We have had conversations with Verizon and AT&T on the subject, but they are not at a point where they can offer that to us at this time.”
King said she thinks it will be convenient, especially for students who have come from out of the area and don’t know where to get these types of things.
