Somehow I am surprised how Georgia Tech has been unable to hook on to these concepts. A college with such a high per student endowment would worry about small profits in retail just seems unethical. A perfect example is the East Side Market, located adjacent to the beloved Wingnuts. If we look at point wise in terms of value for money, structural layout and working hours it becomes very obvious how non student-friendly this market is.
The simplest of stuff such as cereals, drinks, ice-creams etc is over-priced. This coming from a college grocery store according to me is unacceptable.
Next the layout of the store itself makes the student spend more time than he can afford. It is disjointed making the shopper run around the shop just to get his/her weekly grocery.
Finally the working hours assigned to this market seems to put the worker's interest in mind rather than the student's need. It is common knowledge that college student is a nocturnal creature. I can speak from experience that my day starts at 9 pm. By closing at 1 a.m the store seems to become less accessible to all. If they could make this store a 24/7 convenience it would be much better for the students.
After all a happy student body makes a successful college.
Karan Chauhan
Well that depends on your idea of a successful college. A college is essentially a business. They exist not only to educate people, but to make money. Keeping the market open 24/7 would probably cost more money than it makes. Though I agree it would make things easier for some people. Personally I have never been by there, but I will have to check it out sometime.
ReplyDeleteA more convenient mart would definitely be a good thing. But I guess they need to make a profit too. Some sort of balance between maximizing profit and catering to student needs would probably be the best solution. Like keeping the mart open till late at night maybe.
ReplyDeleteThats my argument. With such a high endowment they don't need to really care about the meagre profit from a single convenience store.
ReplyDeleteI think that maybe the East Side Market was design more for the students living in the North Avenue Apartments. They pass by the market everyday on their way to class.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to East Side Market but I know West Side Market is no better. Although the layout is okay in my opinion, the prices are way too high. I needed some milk and it costs me $4 for half gallon of milk. When I go to Walmart, that same size of milk is $1.05. Its ridiculous how overpriced they are.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to East&West Side Market. They seem to be very unfriendly and costing.
ReplyDeleteAnd our school has the grocery buses on Saturday, which can drive you to the Target.That means, once a week you can save your money and don't have to spend a lot of time.
I have never noticed that the store layout is poor. The store is over priced because pretty much all convenience stores are expensive. You end up paying for the extra convenience you receive. Irony right?
ReplyDeleteI think that everything there is overpriced. If I didn't get the GT dining card thingy, I probably would never buy anything from the place.
ReplyDeleteI hate Jazzman's. They are so over priced. and all the drink from them aren't made right. Also, hot drinks are never hot.
ReplyDeletetrue and the timings also arnt tht great!plus i dont quite see as much pizza as in pizza hut in the student centre!!
ReplyDeleteI've never been to East Side Market but I've heard about these flaws. They probably overprice their products because they know they can do it. When it's around 11pm and Publix is closed and anywhere else is way too far (especially when many students don't have cars), they know that students will pay the extra money for what they're looking for.
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