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Bookstore manager leaves after 11 years
The Advocate
Mt. Hood Community College will be losing its bookstore manager, Janet Kehn, on Friday.
“I’m sad, but it’s a great opportunity for Janet,” said Jennifer DeMent, director of Finance and Auxilary Serivces.
Kehn is leaving to become the bookstore manager at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. “It’s very bittersweet for me to be leaving,” said Kehn. “Where I’m going, to Lewis and Clark, it’s a private college, and my son’s tuition will be paid for.”
According to DeMent, Lewis and Clark contracted textbook sales to an off-campus bookstore which has not worked well for students. She said the opportunity to build a campus bookstore from the design of the store to the hiring of all new staff, is a great opportunity for Kehn.
Kehn will continue working at MHCC on Saturdays until a replacement can be hired and trained. “I will do everything I can to make sure that the new hire is a good one,” she said.
While working for the MHCC bookstore for 11 years, Kehn has made many changes to benefit students and the college. The most recent change has been creating and implementing the textbook rental program, which she anticipates will save students money while creating a profit for the college at the same time.
In addition to re-emphasizing other marketable items, Kehn launched the MHCC bookstore website in order to get the edge on such retailers as amazon.com.
“Janet’s found a way to increase sales in clothing and general merchandise to offset the loss in textbook sales to online competition,” said DeMent.
The bookstore was in debt and students complained of poor customer service when she was hired, according to Kehn. “I had to hire all new staff and we set out to start making money for the college,” Kehn said. “With my staff’s help, we’ve been able to achieve that.”
Kehn would like to see the new bookstore manager put an emphasis on marketing and ensure that the students are shown that the bookstore is “here to serve the purpose of raising funds for the college,” she said, and not owned by an outside company. “They (students) need to be shown that the benefit of buying textbooks on campus makes money for the college.”
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