For bookstore, a quantum leap

Quantum Books has leaped from Cambridge, Massachusetts to the University, and engineers and computer programmers are happy. The bookstore was originally a duplicate of the Cambridge affiliate serving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But over the past two months, the store has been redefining its focus to address the needs and desires of the University and area colleges. "Now we [know] there are different interests here, so we're trying to accomodate more to the area," said Quantum employee Marnie Annese. The new bookstore is frequented mostly by, "students, professors, hospital staff, and people from the Law School," according to employees, and has a greater appeal to people in the hard sciences. Specialized customers seem to find their niche at Quantum Books, adding that they are able to get books through an efficient special order process, which is normally filled within 10 working days -- two to three if the Cambridge store has the book in stock. "[There are] very few books at the library or at the Medical Bookstore that. . . cover nuero-networks or image processing," said Guillermo Alexander, an associate professor at Jefferson Medical College. Shops at Penn General Manager Gerald Cecci said yesterday that the new store has diversified the shops and given them an added dimension with a specialized bookstore. "Quantum Books fits into the [Shops at Penn] real well since it is a technical and professional bookstore," Cecci said. "They fit a need."

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