Established 1826 — Oldest College Newspaper West of the Alleghenies

Bill's Art Store owner airs grievances over store's closing

I am Barb of Bill's Art Store. In May, the paper did an article about us closing. We planned to close at the end June since I had a buyer for our supplies who was opening a new art store.

He jerked me around for six weeks. In a hostile email that sounded like an unfriendly ultimatum, he made a joke of an offer on a small portion of our inventory thinking I would be desperate enough to give him the whole inventory.

I went back to making contacts. In the middle of June, the Miami Bookstore buyer came in to assess our inventory. I pointed out the many items that we carry specifically for the student assignments that the Bookstore doesn't carry and apparently doesn't care to carry. The buyer mentioned it would be a lot of work to pickup, take to storage, and sort. He also told me that he shared his opinion with the director when he brought the purchase issue for board approval. I have been given the "silent treatment" since July 17th when he assured me that he would let me know of their decision.

Students will pay the price when materials needed for classes can't be obtained. If there is no alternative source for needed materials, shouldn't Miami bear the responsibility to make them available? Shouldn't teachers have given me a heads up about unusual supply needs so that the students could be prepared? I tried to improve communication for four years and Bill, for many years before me. At least we at Bill's Art Store value the students and any other customers who came through our doors. I feel as if I have really let the students down and I am very sad that the lack of communication and cooperation was the basis for failure.

Barb Berry

barbbrry@yahoo.com