When students need supplies late at night, they can now find them on campus since the convenience store, Stags on the Run, located in the Barone Campus Center, was open for an entire academic year.
The convenience store, called Stags on the Run, is an addition to the Stag Spirit Store; the store’s success has far surpassed the expectations of those involved in its creation.
Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Fitzpatrick ’70 said, “We knew the students were going to be pleased with [Stags on the Run], but I think we were all caught off-guard by just how successful it has been. We measure success in terms of the amount of product that is going out of the store.”
According to Janet Chou, Store Manager of the Fairfield University Bookstore and Stag Spirit Shop, by the end of the spring semester of 2016, there was a 131.5 percent increase in food and beverage sales from last year and health and beauty sales are up 69.6 percent from last year. These increases were attributed to the opening of the convenience store.
These numbers further reinforced Fitzpatrick’s idea that students wanted a late-night convenience option.
According to Kerri Beine ’18, she uses the convenience store two or three times weekly, especially taking advantage of the Grab ‘N Go area where food is sold.
“A lot of students are busy and it’s easier [to go to the convenience store] than sitting down and taking time out of your day,” said Beine. “If you’re on the go, you can just grab something quick.”
The increase of sales was far beyond what was expected when the addition was first built.
“We were looking for somewhere around a 40 percent increase in traffic and sales,” continued Fitzpatrick, “but to see an increase in 80 percent in sales is pretty unusual. It demonstrates both that there was a need for it and that students are taking advantage of it.”
Prior to the opening of Stags on the Run, students without cars had to take the StagBus to the convenience stores in town. Having to take the shuttle was inconvenient for some students and also impossible at night as the last StagBus leaves campus at 10 p.m.
“I think it has pretty much anything you would need urgently,” said Vanessa Ciampa ’19. “It is very convenient, especially if I’m running out of something and I don’t want to go downtown.”
Stags on the Run was initially slated for completion by the beginning of the summer of 2015. However, a problem with a state health code regarding the height of the ceilings of convenience stores forced the addition to be moved to the other half of the store.
“Our challenge now is what we can do partnering with the [FUSA] Senate and with Follett to keep it fresh. We have ten staple items that we have all the time that are aggressively priced on sale and then there is a special each week.”
The items that are always on sale include some food products such as bottled water and Coca Cola, some cleaning products, such as laundry detergent and hand soap, and some paper products, such as paper towels, toilet paper and tissues.
“What I would hope to do,” continued Fitzpatrick, “is talk to the [FUSA] Senate about seeing if we should expand that for the fall.”
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