Many Central Campus residents have shifted their food point spending from grocery stores to processed food vendors this fall, and University grocery stores have taken a big hit, said Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services Joe Pietrantoni. After examining student spending trends for the 1999 and 2000 fall semesters, Pietrantoni found that although students spent 1 percent more points this fall than last, campus grocery stores have seen drastically lower revenue.
Although the Lobby Shop, the East Campus Store and Uncle Harry's took in a combined total of $170,000 less this fall than in the fall of 1999, Uncle Harry's has become the greatest concern, since it was responsible for $101,000 of the decreased revenue.
"There has been a shift to processed food between the two semesters, and we will continue to watch to see if this trend continues or grows stronger during the spring semester," Pietrantoni said. "The trend could reverse in the future, but most likely it won't."
On-campus grocery stores find themselves at a disadvantage as compared to larger, off-campus markets that can purchase food from wholesale dealers and can charge lower prices. Pietrantoni is guessing that more students are frequenting neighboring grocery stores to save money.
When the on-campus grocery stores were initially planned, the largest of the three, Uncle Harry's, was placed on Central with the expectation that it would thrive because the campus has no other food options-but it is the Lobby Shop that has been most successful. Pietrantoni said the Lobby Shop will remain in the Bryan Center and may be expanded in the future, but the fate of the other two stores remains in question.
Concerned by the idea of possible changes to Uncle Harry's, senior Liz Oakes said, "I never used Uncle Harry's until I lived on Central. Everyone on Central uses it, and this summer, when it closed at 6 p.m. instead of the normal 12 a.m., the hours were really limiting."
Senior Eric Kao, who now lives on Central, worried that closing Uncle Harry's would have devastating impact. "Making changes to Uncle Harry's would affect a lot of people," he said.
But Pietrantoni said he will not be taking action in a hurry. If the trend does continue, however, Pietrantoni will begin by meeting with the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee and members of Duke Student Government to hear suggestions on how to resolve the problems.
"Overall, the Duke stores are very healthy, and though we may be considering changes in the future, we are not doing anything drastic at this point," Director of Duke Stores Jim Wilkerson said.
Evaluating the impact of the recent shifts will begin with Duke Card system-based monitoring of each grocery store's most profitable hours and days-especially Uncle Harry's.
Administrators may eventually respond by changing the hours of business for a store to make it as profitable as possible-or in the extreme case-closing the store.
"The money is still at Duke, it's just shifting," Wilkerson said. "However, we have to balance the business side with the service side. From a business standpoint, it may be better to have fewer stores, but that would leave at least one campus without one."
While Pietrantoni is confident that the current meal plan is student-driven and that there is no weakness in each store's product offerings, he believes that spending at all of Duke's food providers-grocery stores, vending machines, Merchants on Points and athletic vendors-may have peaked, since food point spending has historically increased by 3 to 4 percent each year.
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