Follett Bookstore

It's not your father's college bookstore, and it may not be yours, either. Folle2tt [energy squared], the new bookstore concept from Follett College Stores, Elmhurst, IL, appeals to today's neophilic college students — hungry for new information, new music, new fashions and new technology.

One focus of the $4 million, 20,000-sq.-ft. store is a two-story, 600-sq.-ft. “cyberwall” that shows a dizzying variety of programming. The store also includes a cafe, Internet stations, music, publishing services, curriculum-centered merchandise “worlds” — and a few books, of course. Located on the University of Illinois'flagship campus, it will function as a working lab for the parent company to try out new products, services and retailing techniques at its other bookstores.

Client: Follett College Stores, Elmhurst, Ill.

Design: AAD, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Adrienne Weiss Corp., Los Angeles

Suppliers: DVMI, Los Angeles (audio/video); Omaha Fixture Intl., Omaha, Neb., and Midwest Woodworking, St. Louis (fixturing); Durkan Patterned Carpet, Dalton, Ga. (carpeting); Elliptipar, West Haven, Conn. (lighting); Yunker Industries Inc., Lake Geneva, Wis. (signage, graphics, props/decoratives); Trussworks, S. San Francisco, Calif. (trusses)

Photography: Mike Norton Photography, Phoenix