Newly rebranded campus Spirit Store opens with ribbon cutting ceremony

In celebration of the reopening, the Spirit Store is handing out a 20% discount coupon for select merchandise items until 5 p.m. today

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at 11 a.m. today to celebrate the reopening of the campus bookstore, now known as the UHCL Spirit Store, at its new location. The store is now directly next to the West Entrance of the Bayou Building, closest to the “Spiritus Mundi” sculpture.

UHCL Spirit Store entryway with “Spiritus Mundi” visible through the West Entrance doors. | Photo by Sergio Salazar

The ceremony follows a roughly three-day moving process, which involved transferring the bulk of the store’s materials out from the former location, excluding the textbooks the store has historically offered, which are still currently housed in the store’s previous space.

Roxanne Llamas, Assistant Manager at the UHCL Spirit Store, says the store still plans on facilitating the purchase of textbooks and that talks are currently underway as to how exactly to best provide these resources to students for the upcoming Spring semester.

The store leaving the textbooks in their previous space is primarily due to the new location’s smaller size. Aside from the books being a bit further away, Llamas considers the space to be an improvement.

“I love it,” Llamas says. “It’s more of an intimate experience, and we’re not gonna have to be calling from a big distance to get someone’s attention anymore.”

Ribbon cutting ceremony attendees, including Hunter the Hawk, entering the newly opened UHCL Spirit Store. | Photo by Sergio Salazar

Llamas also cites the new space’s placement in a higher foot-traffic area as another benefit over the previous location, which was further from the building’s main entryways.

“Now, people who are even just coming by to check out the campus will have a chance to see us and stop by,” Llamas says.

The move is part of UHCL’s Bayou Building Campus Construction Assistance Program, more commonly referred to as CCAP, and its broader goal of revitalizing the Bayou Building. This $50 million dollar endeavor, the majority of which has been legislatively funded by the state of Texas, is mostly concerned with infrastructure renovations and upgrades, a large portion of which is focused on the 3rd floor.

Anyone interested in paying the spirit store a visit can do so from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. every Monday–Thursday and 9 a.m.–3 p.m. every Friday from now until Dec. 5. These hours may not apply during some holidays and semester breaks, so calling the store at 281-283-2189 ahead of time in those instances is advised.