Dickson Street Book Exchange

Owners: Mike Hayes, William Speer

Address: 653 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville 72701

Phone: 501-587-8400

Hours: 8 a.m.- 5 p.m., Monday-Friday

Start-Up: Dec. 1

When their old employer was bought by a national corporation last summer, Mike Hayes and William Speer decided to open their own student book store.

“We thought people would appreciate a small, locally owned book store since both of the other alternatives are owned by big corporations,” says Hayes. He and his partner had each worked for Campus Book Store, which had been a locally owned Dickson Street staple, for more than 10 years before it sold to Wallace’s Campus Stores of Lexington, Ky.

Dickson Street Book Exchange opened in December, just in time to catch students who were selling books during fall term finals. The store’s advertisements drew customers with promises of free coffee, blue books and, for the teachers, free Scantron test-scoring sheets, plus the benefits of an experienced staff and fair prices.

Business was better than expected during December, Hayes says, and he hopes that the trend will continue this month when students buy books for spring term classes. The partners are also working on plans to open a copy shop in the store.