Should Kean Ocean Open Their Own School Store?

By Logan Germano | Published December 17, 2022

The Ocean County College bookstore located inside of the Jon and Judith Larson Student Center offers an abundance of OCC merchandise for the student population. However, Kean Ocean students who enter the store will only see a Kean Ocean t-shirt on the clothing racks and nothing else. 

“There needs to be more Kean Ocean apparel at the bookstore,” Maggie Lambusta, a senior communication major said. “Every time I have been there I have seen Kean shirts, but no accessories like lanyards, water bottles, mugs, hats, and more. There must be more representation for Kean Ocean students.” 

At Kean Ocean, there is a high demand for more merchandise to be available for students. The lack of Kean Ocean apparel at the OCC bookstore is raising concern among the student body. To address this issue, students have been thinking of ideas for more items to sell at the satellite campus to give the Kean Ocean community more representation. 

Lambusta, a student assistant for Kean Ocean Campus Life, said the discussion of a small pop-up shop in the atrium of the Kean Ocean Gateway building is always being brought up. She believes this idea will help cross-promote events on campus and is an opportunity to get more students involved. 

“Anything at this shop can be leftover and used as prizes for our events,” Lambusta said. “I think this strategy will significantly impact the campus’s culture because more people will take interest in finding other ways to get Kean Ocean apparel.”

Other students think a student-run initiative for a Kean Ocean school store could work. Vincent Castronuovo, a junior sociology major, suggests students can use certain companies to create Kean Ocean products and sell them at a kiosk inside the Gateway building if students are willing to set up their own store. 

“If starting a student-run kiosk is given enough attention, I think it has the potential to be a big addition to the school,” Castronuovo said. “If you can get someone to operate it for a couple of hours each day, it will definitely attract business.” 

At the neighboring Ocean County Mall, located approximately three miles from campus, the search for Kean Ocean apparel is not promising. In the small college section of Boscov’s department store, shoppers will encounter clothing that promotes NCAA Division I colleges like Monmouth, Rutgers, and Seton Hall. 

Dylan Orlando, a cashier at this store, agrees that the lack of Kean gear is concerning and thinks the mall should find ways to support local community college students. 

“Every local business, big or small, should be contributing to its community in any way it can,” Orlando said. 

For most businesses in the Ocean County Mall, licensing is the reason why they cannot sell any Kean University products. Joseph Ulinski, a Kean Ocean alumnus and store manager of Gameday Sports, is all in favor of a Kean kiosk situated in the center of the mall. He states, however, that Gameday Sports can only sell college apparel from the schools they have a contract with, and unfortunately, they don’t have one with Kean.

“A Kean kiosk would give college students and their family members access to more clothing and accessories, especially since Christmas is coming up,” Ulinski said. “It is always good to expand out no matter where your market is.” 

Kean Ocean students believe a school store is essential to the community without having to browse other stores for any type of goods. 

“More apparel will increase morale on campus,” Castronuovo said. “A lot of people will be happy.” 

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