The Point Park University Bookstore: Monopolizing merch one overpriced coffee mug at a time

By Jordyn Hronec

For Point Park students, one of the only places to obtain Point Park branded merchandise is the on-campus bookstore. The bookstore, which is really a small Barnes and Noble branch, sells and rents out textbooks at the start of the semester, but also dedicates most of its floor space to Point Park merchandise. 

Upon entering the bookstore, which is located on the first floor of Lawrence Hall, one article of clothing first caught my eye. It was a green, long-sleeved tee-shirt with the name of the school in white lettering. Point Park doesn’t really have an exciting logo. The athletics department uses an image of a bison leaping through the city of Pittsburgh, though this is due to the bison’s presence as a sports mascot. Most of the clothing in the bookstore simply uses the name of the school.

The shirt I first looked at was obviously of high quality material. Though the lettering was simply printed on, the fabric felt nice and soft to the touch, and I could detect no loose or shoddy stitching. However, I then looked at the price tag.

The shirt cost $49.98, nearly $50 for a simple long-sleeved tee-shirt. I quickly put it back.

It didn’t take long before I discovered that this single item was not out of the ordinary in terms of pricing. Nearly every long-sleeved shirt in the store was around $50, and sweatshirts or shirts of thicker, more thermal materials, were upwards of $70. 

Every item, though, was well-made. Some items weren’t as soft as I may have liked them to be, but I could tell that these were clothing items that were all made to last. But I’m still not sure if they were priced appropriately. 

Regular, short-sleeved tee-shirts, some with more interesting designs such as the classic “Point Park Dad” shirt, typically cost about $20. I didn’t think that this was too out of the ordinary.

The most reasonably priced clothing item I discovered were the rolled tee-shirts, which were pretty basic in design, but actually felt a lot softer than I expected. They cost about $15 each.

A rolled tee-shirt that is for sale at the bookstore. At nearly $15, it is one of the cheapest clothing items available.

I made my way through the store and eventually ended up at the clearance rack, which I was pretty excited for. However, I was quickly let down. The only items on the rack were polos that your dad or grandpa would wear on a golfing trip. And even those were originally priced at about $60, and were now about $45. But I guess if your dad can afford to go golfing, he can probably afford this price.

A golf-style athletic polo that is on the clearance rack at the bookstore.

Outside of just clothing items, the bookstore had a large amount of Point Park themed stuffed animals to choose from, as well as water bottles, mugs, and winter hats and gloves. And again, I was impressed by the quality, but disappointed in the pricing. All of these items could be found at your local dollar store, minus the Point Park branding. You really are paying for the name.

An army of stuffed bison displayed on a table at the bookstore.

All in all, I believe that the bookstore has a nice selection of good quality options. But I’m also realistic, and I don’t see the students of Point Park visiting here too often. In fact, it made me realize that the reason I don’t see a lot of students around sporting the Point Park name is because our merchandise is simply too pricey for a college student.