UTP Retail

OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE

UTP Retail conducts several customer surveys each year. The surveys are designed to provide UTP Retail with advice as to how it can improve its retail operations to better meet customer needs.

We are proud to say that we receive very high scores for our service in our customer surveys. Regularly, well more than 90% of students say that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the customer service they received, that our staff was friendly and helpful and they were happy with their overall experience.

One particular area of customer service where we excel is in maintaining much shorter wait times in line than the industry standard. During our busiest weeks of the year, the vast majority of students reported waiting less than 10 minutes in line to complete their purchases. We accomplish this by having sufficient cash registers open – our standard is to have about one register per 1,000 full time students.

ENHANCED CLOTHING ASSORTMENT

Increasing the number of students wearing campus branded apparel will add to school spirit and promotes the campus in the surrounding community. Our clothing assortment offers a significantly larger selection of value clothing options for students at excellent prices, and we also offer enhanced options and key brands such as Roots. In addition, we regularly have special promotions throughout the year that offer students outstanding value. As the result of our various programmes in insignia clothing, our clothing business has grown significantly in each of the last six years.

DIRECT TO GARMENT PRINTING

We have in-house capability with cutting edge technology that allows us to print high resolution images on garments, without the minimum quantities required by clothing manufacturers, and at economical prices. We use only ethically-sourced blank garments and eco-friendly inks and supplies. This technology enables us to deliver custom clothing on short notice and allows UTP Retail to offer a much wider variety of clothing sizes and styles.

CUSTOMIZED RETAIL STORES

We have the ability to create a dynamic in-store shopping experience for the campus community in both large and small locations. Our stores are well organized, featuring fixtures that are custom designed for the campus environment. The look and feel of our stores is tailored to each location and campus whether the store is a traditional bookstore or a small niche retailer.

CONSISTENTLY DELIVERS RESULTS

Enhancing the student experience leads to revenue growth. UTP Retail has consistently grown revenues in its Retail Division and our results significantly and consistently outpace the industry. Partnering with UTP Retail will lead to both improvements in areas important to students, and increased revenue for the institution.

ABOUT UTP RETAIL

UTP Retail is a division of the University of Toronto Press (UTP). Founded in 1901, UTP is Canada’s leading scholarly publisher, one of the largest university presses in North America, and a not-for-profit organization separately incorporated from the University of Toronto. UTP’s mission is to disseminate knowledge widely for the benefit of society.

UTP Retail has an agreement with OCAD University and the University of Toronto for the management of the retail stores on campus. With a total of five locations, our existing stores include a 30,000 square foot campus bookstore, smaller campus bookstores and an athletics retail outlet called the Varsity Sports Store. We operate specialty retail stores that are tailored to the clientele.