Bursting with Aggie blue and gold, a new branch of the UC Davis Bookstore has opened downtown and a grand opening celebration is planned the weekend of July 8-10.

Shelves at the UC Davis Store Downtown are stocked with Aggie shirts, gifts and souvenirs, but also feature mugs with the city’s bicycle logo, Davis Farmers Market hats and aprons, a limited number of books, school and office supplies, gift cards, snacks, beverages and other convenience items.

The store plans to offer a delivery service for special orders in the downtown area. An embroidery service also will be available, for adding logos or names to clothing and other items — a popular option for fraternities, sororities and clubs.

The 4,200-square-foot store encompasses two former storefronts at the southwest corner of Second and F streets. The space previously housed First Northern Bank’s real estate division, which moved out last year, and Strands salon, which recently moved to 135 F St.

The shop opened for business Saturday, but an official ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned at noon Friday, July 8. Representatives from the Davis Chamber of Commerce as well as dignitaries from both UCD and the city of Davis will be on hand for the festivities.

There will be plenty of prizes, giveaways, refreshments and fun for all ages, a news release said. The street in front of the store will be blocked off to make way for the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh. The UCD mascot, Gunrock, will make an appearance, joined by city mascots Hamburger Patty and Mr. Toad.

The celebration will continue throughout the weekend during the annual downtown Sidewalk Sale. Grand opening prizes include sweatshirts, an olive oil gift basket, a “Campus Grown” wooden bowl and Aggie football tickets. The store also will give away blue-and-gold fabric leis.

Shoppers who make a $10 purchase will receive a drawstring backpack bag or UCD T-shirt.

Fans looking to show their Aggie pride will find a wide variety of UCD apparel as well as license plate frames, keychains and stuffed animals with the campus logo.

A “Campus Grown” line of products “emphasizes the sustainability mindset of UC Davis,” the news release said. This line includes olive oil and new olive oil-based soaps and facial products made from olives harvested from trees on campus.

The project started as a way to prevent olives from falling onto the sidewalks, creating a slippery mess and safety hazard for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Also part of the Campus Grown line: handcrafted wooden bowls, utensils, vases and cutting boards made from UCD trees “that required rigorous pruning or removal for health or safety reasons,” according to the bookstore website.

The downtown shop also showcases products from the university’s new “Good Life Collection.” These items highlight UCD’s tradition of “improving our everyday experience from the food we eat to the integration of art and culture in our lives,” the news release said.

UCD scarves are part of the “Good Life Collection.” These high-quality decorative silk scarves incorporate faculty and student artwork from the university’s collections into their design.

Books from national best-seller lists will be available too, along with works by UCD faculty such as Yiyun Lee, named one of The New Yorker magazine’s best young authors, and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder of the university writing program.

The store also will carry titles selected for the annual Campus Community Book Project, which encourages university students, workers and community members to read the same book and participate in related discussions and events each fall, culminating in a talk by the author.

This year’s selection is “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie’s award-winning, semi-autobiographical novel.

The new store is the third largest of seven UCD stores and the group’s first new store since the 2004 addition of the ARC Pro Shop in the Activities and Recreation Center on campus.

The downtown store’s interior design was a coordinated effort by College Store Designs of Lincoln, Neb., and Design Services at UCD.

A current full-time employee will supervise the new store, assisted by a complement of sales and service associates.

Hours will be subject to change as the store begins operation. To start out, hours are planned from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call the store at (530) 297-4450.

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A customer walks past a display of UC Davis mugs, olive oil and books at the newly opened UC Davis Store Downtown at Second and F streets. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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Nader Twall, his wife Michelle, their sons Mekiah, 2, and Ameen, 3 months, in the stroller, check out T-shirts at the UC Davis Store Downtown. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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Jim Purdy, a UC Davis professor emeritus in radiation oncology who retired Thursday, looks at the “Campus Grown” collection of handcrafted wooden kitchenware transformed from by artisan Barry Hanna. The wood comes from campus trees that need to be cut down or pruned for health or safety reasons. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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