We’re in the final days of preparing to send our daughter off to her freshman year at college. She’s going to CU Boulder and we’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, so it’s not exactly around the corner. That means we have to figure out how to get all of the acoutrements of dorm life from here to Colorado. It’d be easier to buy them here, but who wants to schlep all that stuff? And with everything going on when we get to campus, do we really want to do all that shopping then (and perhaps risk some things being sold out)?

A lot of retailers have focused on the college market with back to school/college dorm special sales–Target, Staples, OfficeMax, Macy’s, and more. But one store has really gotten this thing down to a science.

Bed, Bath & Beyond has created the college dorm registry. You go to your local BB&B, tell them what school you will be attending, they hand you a scanner, and you go through the store identifying those items you want to buy. These items will then be prepackaged and waiting for you at the local BB&B store closest to your college campus.

Not sure what your school will/won’t be providing, or what you are/aren’t allowed to have in your dorm room (no open flames, no open coils, etc.)? Never fear: BB&B has thought about that, too. They printed out a two page handout from CU with everything you needed to know to outfit a dorm room. They gave us a printout of all the items we’d selected, which will all be ready for us at the local store on the date we’ve chosen. They also provided a map from the campus to the store, complete with driving directions. And, we haven’t even paid in advance! We’ll pay for the items when we pick them up next month in Boulder.

What a great concept and probably not a lot of work, considering that BB&B has been offering registry services for bridal showers and weddings for years. The equipment and systems were in place–just a litle bit of work to coordinate with the schools and make this college kid-friendly and there they are. With just a little bit of work and creativity, BB&B has created a service that differentiates them from all the other retailers. Not only that but experienced parents tell newbees like us, “Don’t forget you can do the BB&B registry service–it’s great!”

Kudos to Bed and Bath for going beyond. Now if they could only find a way to get college kids to keep those dorm rooms reasonably clean…