The ASUN bookstore in the Jot Travis Student Union opened, as usual, at 7:30 a.m. Friday morning. But business was not "as usual." As the shopping floodgates opened, hundreds of enthusiastic students, faculty, staff and community members instantly turned into the most ambitious of bargain hunters.

What started the frenzy? Maybe it was the neon yellow and orange fliers posted and distributed throughout the campus over the last two weeks. What was on the fliers? 40% off everything, Oct. 19, 2007, for the ASUN Bookstore's Moving Sale!

The ASUN bookstore is moving Oct. 31, Nov. 1-2 and will reopen in the new Joe Crowley Student Union in early November.

"Can you please pick up the kids, we've been in line for an hour ... this is crazy," said mother and astonished shopper Toni Claus on the phone to her friend.

Shoppers lined up outside the store waiting for their turn to enter, picked through the left-over merchandise, and then waited in another, longer line for their turn to checkout.

"The sale is going extremely well," said Bookstore Manager Marie Stewart. "We knew we were going to have to deal with the fire code issue, but we just monitor our capacity with a one-out, one-in system."

A bookstore staff member guarded the door as he counted and channeled shoppers in and out of the store.

Apparel was the highest selling commodity in the sale and books come in second place.

The forty percent off sale applied only to merchandise on-hand and excluded computers, calculators, Computer Den items, graduation attire and medical books.

The new two-story bookstore includes a fireplace and seating areas, expanded retail areas with space for textbooks, clothing, computer sales, a convenience store, and many other services for students and community members.

"This sale and the move to new the union wouldn't be possible without the students and the ASUN staff," Stewart said.