Jordan Gerard/Winonan

The Winona State University bookstore location, housing clothes, class supplies and textbooks, is temporarily worse before it gets better in its final destination.

The bookstore has completed the move into its new location in what used to be the Winonan club room, but the construction plan for the new addition features a 600-square foot expansion to the bookstore’s original location in Kryzsko Commons.

Karen Krause, bookstore supervisor, said, “We’re looking forward to the new space. It will be a new look and more effective for students to find things.”

The new space will provide extra room for clothing, general merchandise and textbooks, Krause said.

“The added space will let us spread out more. It was very cramped in the old room,” Krause said. “Everything will be more accessible, and we’ll have more room to move around in.”

Not all of the merchandise fits into the new space, and the aisles are even more cramped than originally, but the bookstore managed to get a little bit of all their merchandise into the new room.

The smaller area holds a majority of what was in the old location except textbooks, which are temporarily stored in a back room beyond the construction area, Krause said.

Student worker Beau Roberts said the new location is okay, but running back and forth to get textbooks is a hassle.

To get the textbooks they need, students have to ask at the desk, and then clerks retrieve the books.

Krause said students have been very patient with the extra time it takes to find textbooks, and their understanding is much appreciated.

The moving part was the big challenge, because it took about a week to move everything. Bookstore staff chose to move after “rush week,” but students were still looking for textbooks, Krause said.

While a cramped, new location might turn away students from visiting, the space is still easy to navigate.

Senior Alison Chulla agreed it wasn’t too hard to find things in the temporary space.
Chulla needed a Scantron sheet and an envelope, and she said she found them easily enough.

The construction work and noise have proven to be another challenge to work around. Regulating heat has also posed an issue. One day the bookstore had no heat, and the other day the room had too much heat, Krause said.

The bookstore will be in the Winonan room until the end of March.