A woman and her two daughters slowly walked down the aisle, admiring colorful apparel on racks conspicuously displaying the American University logo.

“Aaw, just for you, Mom!” one of the daughters said to her mother, pointing to a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words AU Mom. “You should get it.”

As the only customers in the store, they walked huddled together, their casual progress uninhibited by others. They left without buying a thing.

It was a slow day at the AU Campus Store.

Downstairs in the basement of the two-story shop, Jackie Meksap, an employee of the bookstore, sat alone behind a long counter. She was keeping vigil over the textbook stacks, closed and roped off to tardy students who had yet to buy their books.

Meksap busied herself with clerical work but was always at the ready to assist those in need. Nimble fingers would dance across the keyboard, typing in a class number, and once the book was located, she would pluck it off the shelves. But few requests came this Saturday afternoon.

“We were busy last week,” said Meksap, “but not now, it’s pretty dead.”

The AU Campus Store – or simply “the bookstore” – provides students with everything they need to be successful in their academic pursuits, from textbooks to office supplies to computer software.

But it also forms a central part of campus life, as much of the merchandise it sells is geared towards creating school pride. Everything an AU Eagle could want with the university logo is sold here: sweatshirts, hats, mugs, umbrellas, key chains, stuffed animals, jewelry and even pet supplies. Upon entering the store, shoppers are drawn into a jungle of racks and shelves, artfully displaying gear of all kinds in red and blue – AU’s school colors.

Hidden behind a table piled high with colorful t-shirts, Stephanie Flynn can barely be seen as she stacks baseball caps into neat rows on a ledge higher than she is tall. Wearing a “Gandalf for President” button, she smiled widely when asked what employees do when customers are scarce.

“We stock and clean,” said Flynn, “the tedious but necessary things.”

And keeping the shelves full of the things most wanted by AU students isn’t just work but a point of pride for bookstore employees.

“As fast as we stock the shelves, the students empty them,” said Shawn Smith, as he stood alone by the door, working the “bag drop” table. The management does a great job providing a variety of merchandise, he said, but that means little idle time, even with few shoppers walking the aisles.

“There is always stuff to put out, that is never going to stop,” said Smith.

His coworker, Sara Boutrs, hummed softly along with a song piped in through the bookstore’s speaker system. Surrounded by cardboard boxes half-emptied of their goods, Boutrs was using a guide to set up a display of colorful cups and other knickknacks.

“During the week, it was crazy,” said Boutrs, “the line was to the back of the store.”

As we chatted, a man popped into the store, grabbed a soda, and stepped up to the cash register. Boutrs politely excused herself, moving back behind the counter to assist him.

Customers always come first at the AU Campus Store… especially on a slow day.