THE STORE CONCEPT THAT CREATED PANDEMONIUM

Beat The Bookstore was founded by Mike Winward and David Monk. Close friends for many years, Mike and David shared a passion for changing the college textbook industry. They became obsessed with building a business that offers students everywhere a viable alternative to the campus bookstore. College bookstores had a monopoly on textbook sales. The victims were America’s college students. Mike and David left the corporate world and opened Beat The Bookstore. They never looked back.

The opening of the first store created an absolute frenzy. Students came by the hundreds. They sold their used books and bought new ones. As they left, they took stacks of business cards—left them all over campus and gave them to their friends. On the first day of class, professors told students they could buy books cheaper at Beat The Bookstore. Parking shuttle drivers announced it over the PA system. Employees at the campus information desk gave students directions to Beat The Bookstore and passed out business cards. The store was inundated with students. Even employees of the campus bookstore came in to buy and sell their textbooks. There were more customers than the store could handle—it was pure pandemonium!

Because of the insane response to their first store, Mike and David opened a second location in Utah . This store was received with the same furor as the first. Emboldened by the unrelenting clamor and spurred by the students' mandate for a more fair exchange of textbooks, Mike and David prepared for nationwide expansion. Their mission continues today.