Van Schaik Bookstore, South Africa’s leading academic bookstore has reached an agreement with Irene Ellis, the owner of UPB Booksellers & Stationers in Grahamstown, to acquire the bookstore. The store will be placed under new management and be rebranded as a Van Schaik Bookstore.
Van Schaik Bookstore, South Africa’s leading academic bookstore has reached an agreement with Irene Ellis, the owner of UPB Booksellers & Stationers in Grahamstown, to acquire the bookstore. The store will be placed under new management and be rebranded as a Van Schaik Bookstore.
All current staff will retain their jobs and the Van Schaik brand will be introduced before the end of the year. The exact date will be released at a later stage.
UPB Booksellers & Stationers has traded in High Street for over 50 years and will probably do so for another 50 under the new ownership of Van Schaik.
Ellis says: “I am confident that the decision to sell the bookstore has come at a time when new technology and experience can only be of great benefit to all our loyal customers. I hand over to Van Schaik with a positive attitude and am confident that it will continue to thrive as a source of knowledge and a meeting place for our local community. I wish Van Schaik all the best in acquiring yet another store. I would like to thank Rhodes University and the local community for all their support during the past 15 years.”
Van Schaik will stock prescribed academic books for students studying at Rhodes University and Unisa, as well as schoolbooks.
The store will also stock study guides and stationery, as well as a range of general books for the wider community.
“We have full confidence that this business will contribute to providing students and the general Grahamstown community with an invaluable knowledge centre with a vast variety of resources,” said Stephan Erasmus, MD of Van Schaik Bookstore.
“We take our role in the education chain seriously and we will strive to meet the needs of our customers, but we also invite them to relay their needs. Input from the public at large will help us align our service with the needs of the customer, and therefore improve our service to this community.”
Van Schaik Bookstore has 53 stores countrywide, including one in Namibia and an online store on www.vanschaik.com.
It serves students, lecturers and the general public with academic and general books. Their aim is to bring books within reach of every student studying in Southern Africa, and by doing so contribute towards the educational endeavours of the United Nations.
“Our extensive experience in the education sector over the past 91 years has allowed us to build relationships with all stakeholders, including publishers (local and globally), parents, institutions and students.
Van Schaik values the relationships with different stakeholders to make sure we fully understand different complexities of our industry. This will always be a cornerstone of our overall strategy,” Erasmus concluded.
