When classes started in August, many students ventured to Elon University’s Barnes & Noble campus bookstore to retrieve their textbooks.
This year, the shipment of those textbooks came with the delivery of a new bookstore manager, Jeremy Hunt.
And similar to those books, there’s a story that led Hunt to Elon.
Hunt worked at his first bookstore in college as a student employee, just like those he works with now. Unbeknownst to him, that position would lead him to his current career and bring his tale full circle.
“In college, I worked briefly for a library, but I always liked owning books,” Hunt said. “I started at a trade bookstore. I really liked the discount I got on books and probably spent all of my paycheck on that. I never would’ve guessed that I had talent in any sort of business at all, but I do think I have skills in understanding what people need and providing that service to them.”
Being in a management position was incongruent to having a career in history — his field of choice in college — but he’s held a management position consistently since graduating.
Despite the steadiness of his employment, he reached a crossroads upon moving to Elon. Hunt and his wife decided to move to the town from Charlottesville, Va., after she got a job in the Burlington area, but Hunt was unsure of whether he wanted to return to work.
“I decided, ‘OK, I’m just going to be retired and that will be fine,’” he said. “We were mostly unpacked [at our home] in Elon but I found myself getting antsy in the middle of the day. I realized it was the point where I would’ve been unpacking boxes and boxes of books [at the bookstore] and I missed that. I was ready to start working again.”
Hunt soon applied and was hired as manager of Elon’s bookstore and started the new position during this year’s move-in weekend in August. He spoke of this busy time with ease.
“I know how to run a bookstore,” he said. “I just had to learn the Barnes & Noble system.”
Vickie Somers, director of auxiliary services, agreed. Hunt replaced long-time Elon bookstore manager Kathy Scarborough after her promotion to a larger store, and Somers said Hunt’s ability to adapt to a new bookstore climate was one of the reasons she hired him.
[quote]At my old store, I never had opportunities like that — to directly help students. It is really nice to be working at a bookstore that fully supports the mission of the university." - Jeremy Hunt, Barnes & Noble bookstore manager[/quote]
“After interviewing several candidates, the decision was made to hire Jeremy based on his previous experience both in the campus and retail bookstore environment,” Somers said.
According to the student employees who have worked with the new manager, Hunt is top-shelf.
“Jeremy is really cool,” said Hunter Purvis, sophomore bookstore employee. “I think he’s done a good job and I really like him. He seems to work with everyone well.”
After surviving the initial struggles of the new school year, Hunt said he and his staff must build on their success and prepare for the fall season as a team. Hunt also said he is excited to interact with more students.
“The best part of the job at Elon so far was when I got to email the recipients of the bookstore’s annual textbook scholarships to let them know they would be receiving free books this semester,” he said. “At my old store, I never had opportunities like that — to directly help students. It is really nice to be working at a bookstore that fully supports the mission of the university.”
As things settle down at the bookstore, Hunt said he wants Elon’s book lovers to know he can talk literature for hours. He invites anyone to come to the bookstore to talk with him about the topic, especially about Harper Lee’s famous novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“I had my mom’s copy that she had read at school,” he said. “Now, here’s my mom giving me a book when I was 10 years old that I was probably too young to read [at that age], but it just seemed to get better with each reading.”