While some items at university grocery stores are competitively priced, others are more expensive because of how they are bought from distributors, said Mary Leslie Patterson, marketing director for UT campus dining.
As a result, some items in the groceries might be more expensive than alternatives off campus.
“Products that we buy direct from the distributor, like soft drinks, we purchase at a competitive rate with the convenience stores on the Strip,” Patterson said. “Other items, such as cereal, we purchase through a third-party distributor, so these items have been purchased by the third party and then sold to us. So we pay a higher price than say, a Pilot station, which has direct buying power from the manufacturer.”
She said items such as soft drinks, chips, power bars, candy and gum are competitively priced.
“UT dining does not have the purchasing power of Wal-Mart, Kroger or Target, so we do not get the discounts that the larger retail operations do,” she said.
Wesley Trahan, sophomore and UT grocery store clerk, said he hears students comment on how expensive products are at university grocery stores, and he notices the expense as well.
He mentioned soft drinks as an example of items that are as expensive as vending machine purchases, while canned goods and ramen noodles are more expensive than at convenience stores like Wal-Mart.
Will Krugman, freshman in English, said he shops at Greve Grocery regularly because of proximity and meal plan acceptance.
University grocery stores have unique names and appearances, but some restaurants on campus are already familiar with incoming freshmen when they arrive at UT, such as many options at the All-American Grill.
Since restaurants on campus do not offer the national ad campaigns, establishments offer on-campus deals in lieu of those, depending on which day of the week it is. Even then, however, Trahan said the deals are not comparable to what one can find off-campus.
Patterson said the national brands decide which national advertisements are used on campus and which are not.
One such deal was the Election Day offer Starbucks had, in which a customer could say he or she voted on Nov. 4 and receive a free cup of coffee. It was not available at the stores on campus, like at the UC and Hodges Library, but it was available at places off-campus, like the Starbucks on the Strip and the Starbucks on Chapman Highway.
Diane Helton, manager of the Starbucks at Hodges Library, said the store was considered a “licensed store,” while standalone stores are called “corporate stores.”
“The coffees are sent to us,” Helton said. “We have a program we go by. ... Cumberland’s store might get a coffee we don’t have and vice versa. This is nationwide.”
Meanwhile, Nicole Piaskowski, manager of the Smoothie King at the TRECS, said the only difference between it and a standalone store is it does not sell kids’ cups, and it accepts Dining Dollars.
Some restaurants on campus, like the Burger King at the Rocky Top Cafe, offer abbreviated menus.
“Sometimes our choices on campus are modified due to the limitations from the national brand,” Patterson said. “For instance, a KFC Express, which fits well on campus, has a smaller, more modified menu than a regular KFC.”
She said other factors, however, can contribute to the smaller versions of the stores.
“I believe that almost all national brands have a limited version that will fit onto college and university campuses,” she said. “The national brands have had to design the smaller locations or the limited menus due to building space and power restrictions that sometimes come in older buildings on campuses.”
Patterson said the national chains seen on campus have the rights purchased by ARAMARK, a Philadelphia-based food service company, to be on campus and are the same product as those off-campus.
“These are the same exact establishments that the students see off campus,” she said. “The national brands monitor their products very closely.”
Patterson said student input drives the selection of stores on campus.
“When we are looking at adding a national brand on campus, we first go to the campus community,” she said. “We survey the students, meet with student groups and get feedback from the Student Advisory Council on what the students are looking for in new dining locations.”
She said a student survey is conducted twice a year, determining what students are looking for. A deli establishment is usually the No. 1 preferred store, and thus, three Quiznos stores are on campus — at the Apartment Residence Hall, at Volunteer Hall and at Rocky Top Cafe.
As per the university’s agreement with ARAMARK, she said 12.5 percent of every dollar spent goes to the university.