Before former longtime General Manager Jim Williams took over, The Duck Store was merely a place where students could purchase textbooks.
His renovations turned the store into what it is today, expanding its locations and its merchandise to include books, greeting cards, electronics and more.
After 36 years as head supervisor of The Duck Store and retiring in 2012, Williams passed away.
He had initially acquired the position in his late 20s, after returning from his post in the military during the Vietnam War.
James Terborg, retired professor in the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business, was a close friend of Williams’. He said Williams gave the store new merchandise and popularity to where they were able to open additional locations all around the state of Oregon.
As the merchandise expanded Williams had the idea of renaming the brand as a whole to cater to all the items of the store, according to Terborg. The name “UO Bookstore” became “The Duck Store.”
Williams was also on the Board of Directors for the Independent College Bookstore Association with The Duck Store. The ICBA is a support system for independent institution bookstores across the nation and how to effectively serve the members of the bookstores.
Jonathan Bibo, CEO of the ICBA, said that Williams had set a good example and standard on what services to offer in the bookstores and their importance to an institution.
“He really took the time to speak with me about the importance of the college store industry and what college stores can do to help students be successful,” Bibo said. “He was aware of what I was doing in the industry and really encouraged me to stay on this course.”
Bibo said it was Williams’ quality of personability that had set him apart from other national bookstore leaders.
One of the biggest impacts Williams made on UO was securing The Walt Disney Company’s Donald Duck character as the UO mascot for merchandise.
According to Terborg and current CEO of The Duck Store Arlyn Schaufler, Williams had received multiple cease and desist letters from The Walt Disney Company telling him to stop using the image of Donald Duck for UO.
According to Schaufler, Williams’ exact words in response to the letters were, “Well, throw me in jail because we are not going to get rid of the Duck.”
According to Schaufler and Terborg, Williams had multiple discussions with Leo Harris, former UO athletic director with connections to Walt Disney, as well as meetings with The Walt Disney Company, until he found a picture of Harris and Walt Disney in which Disney is wearing a letterman jacket with the UO Donald Duck logo. This proved that Disney was in support of the usage by the school, Schaufler said.
“His legacy was that he loved the university and he was so much for the students,” Terborg said. “He was willing to be put in jail so the university could continue using the logo they knew and loved.”
One of Williams’ biggest philosophies as the leader of The Duck Store was being an advocate, for the students and for all members of the university, Schaufler said.
According to Terborg, Williams’ role of advocacy turned into his position at the store, as his nametag had the title “Advocate” on it.
According to Terborg, one of Williams’ biggest pushes for The Duck Store was the selling of greeting cards, which is still there to this day.
The Duck Store Board of Directors told Williams multiple times that there was no economic gain in the greeting cards, but Williams knew there was a demand from students in times of holidays and needs, Terborg said.
“He just cared so much about what we do and who we are that a lot of his time was spent day to day trying to serve the university,” Schaufler said. “He was determined to do that with economic gain or without economic gain.”
“Jim taught me and everyone at The Duck Store to treat people with respect, seek individual involvement at all levels, create a fearless environment, encourage open and honest communication and apply a mentoring style of leadership,” Schaufler said. “He really embraced the servant style of leadership.”
