If you went to a state university in the past couple decades, you probably remember the campus bookstore, stocked not just with books, but with T-shirts, toothpaste, laptops and snacks.

The one at Washington State University even offers Starbucks coffee and a Clinique makeup counter. (Gotta have those essentials, right?)

Now, Amazon is looking to get in on campus retail, and will soon open a Campus Pickup Point near Portland State University. According to Amazon's website, the facility is one of 31 planned nationwide, and the company's first in Oregon.

The location, housed in the ground floor of the new Sky3 tower at Southwest 11th Avenue and Jefferson Street in downtown Portland, is slated to open by October.

It will just serve as a place for any customer - student or not - to pick up their Amazon deliveries. But someday, it could operate more like a campus bookstore.

On Tuesday, Amazon unveiled Instant Pickup, a mobile ordering program that enables students to use their phones to order a selection of snacks, drinks and electronics (including Amazon's Echo and Kindle). Within two minutes, the items will be ready from a self-service locker at a pickup point.

For now, only five pickup points offer Instant Pickup: Los Angeles; Atlanta; Berkeley, California; Columbus, Ohio; and College Park, Maryland. But Amazon will likely add more locations, including one in Eugene to serve the University of Oregon, according to The Register-Guard.

"While Instant Pickup is available at select pickup locations today, we're excited about bringing this experience to more customers soon," said Ripley MacDonald, Amazon's director of student programs, in a statement.

A job posting for a part-time campus associate in Portland lists a mandatory start-date as Sept. 15.

Duties include receiving, picking and stowing packages, along with checking in customers. In addition to being able to lift 49 pounds, the posting says applicants should have a healthy dose of school spirit.

"You must enjoy working with students," it says. "PSU student? Even better!"

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum