By the end of summer, the University’s Stag Spirit Shop on the second floor of the Barone Campus Center will undergo significant changes to its merchandise options.
The adjustments will “open up a section of the current store and turn it into a convenience store,” said Assistant Vice President Jim FitzPatrick ‘70, comparing the final product to 7-Eleven.
For FitzPatrick, the changes to the bookstore will give students the ability to get any basic necessities for their dorm room: paper towels, toothbrushes etc., without having to go off-campus.
In addition to these changes, the bookstore will be extending its hours so students will be able to access these amenities late at night. The bookstore will be open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m on Sundays, FitzPatrick said.
According to FitzPatrick, “This is a concept that we’ve been talking about for probably five years, so it’s not really something new to us.”
FitzPatrick added that Fairfield had initially planned to start this project during the summer of 2014, but “some logistical challenges came up,” making it impossible for the changes to be completed by the start of the 2014-2015 school year.
FitzPatrick is currently working with a group of students who are working on this as a project for their business class in order to figure out the specific items that will be offered in the convenience store section of the bookstore.
FitzPatrick feels that students will find the new changes to the bookstore appealing because, for many students, “the convenience aspect seems to outweigh the cost aspect.”
However, Dan Gatazka ‘18 felt that the easy accessibility of items at the bookstore might have its drawbacks.
“I think I would definitely use the bookstore particularly if it’s going to be open later,” Gatazka said. “However, I do want to express concern that the prices at the bookstore are going to be higher than going to Stop and Shop.”
He continued to say that the centrality of the BCC to the rest of the campus adds to the convenience of the new additions to the bookstore.
Financing for these new changes should not have any impact on students’ tuition, said FitzPatrick, because the money “is coming from a separate university account. It’s not being funded by Follett so it doesn’t affect the Follett contract,” FitzPatrick said.
For FitzPatrick, these new changes to the campus bookstore “are another one of these little aspects that improves the quality of student life. All these little items start to add up and really define the quality of student life that enhances the academic experience.”
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