C-Store shrinks in size, convenience
by Claudia Hibbert-BeDan
The Metropolitian
Auraria administrators made a bad move when they let the Campus C-Store take its new space in the Tivoli.
The convenience store used to sit between Council Travel, a travel agent, and Tivoli Copies. It opened next to Hammondâs, a candy and ice cream shop, this semester.
The owners wanted to move the store from its former 1,435 square foot space to its new 1,015 square foot space because the location was more prominent, said Diane Pike, the C-Storeâs manager.
ãAnd it has worked,ä Pike said.
Her boss concurs. Neil Wykes, the C-Storeâs owner, estimates that sales have increased by 10 percent, although he didnât have exact numbers March 11. Wykes also owns Hammondâs. He acquired the ice cream shop last November.
Barb Weiske, the director of the Tivoli Student Union and Campus Auxiliaries, said buying patterns show that location is key in a convenience storeâs success. People arenât always in search of sweets, muffins or soda, but once theyâre passing by ...
But go in the convenience store around noon. Itâs hard for people to even walk around in there at peak times, and a wheelchair couldnât make it around
most corners. Sometimes peopleâs backpacks get in the way when theyâre trying to pass each other.
As soon as patrons walk through the door, theyâre bombarded by candy to the left, cashiers in the middle, self-serve on the right and lots in between, including on the floor in the aisles.
A big round pillar blocks one way around one of the candy carousels, and trash cans take up space near the fountain drinks.
Have you seen some of the motorized wheelchairs that some students use on campus? Theyâre pretty bulky.
Auraria has complete say on where businesses can stake their claims in the Tivoli. A credit union that will take over the space where Pure Energy, a sportswear shop, could have been turned away if the administrators thought it wouldnât serve the students, Weiske said.
She had no reason to believe that the C-Storeâs move might keep some from even going inside. Auraria mandates businesses to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act to even take residence in the student union.
And the Campus C-Store does.
But imagine you use a wheelchair. At lunchtime, youâd better know what you need and where it is because thereâs no room for browsing.
Pike said the store only lost storage space. But enough students have shown concern for Weiske to request a meeting with Wykes and the Food Service Advisory Committee, a subcommittee of the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board, to address accessibility concerns.
SACAB representatives also said theyâd heard complains about the tight space in the C-Store, but Wykes said heâs more than willing to work with Auraria to help make things more accessible.
ãCertainly with the size of the store and the business weâre doing, thereâs a lot of people in the store at various times during the day,ä he said. ãI believe when the store was put together, the ADA requirements were met in terms of aisle width and things like that, but that doesnât really go far enough to address when the store is full of people.
ãIf things need to be done to the store to make it more conducive to the customers, we are the people who make the decision to do it. Quite frankly, I was not aware of an issue. If there is an issue, weâll take steps to correct it.ä
Letâs hope so. A convenience store should, at the very least, be convenient for everyone.
Claudia Hibbert-BeDan is a UCD student and a columnist/copy editor for the Metropolitan
