Christina VarvisRunning out of milk in the middle of the week used to mean a separate trip to the grocery store, but a new Students’ Union Initiative aims to change that.
SUBmart will begin stocking a selection of 105 grocery items as of Oct. 13. Ranging from dairy to vegetables to canned goods, all types of food are available. For Students’ Union Vice-President (Operations and Finance) Cody Bondarchuk, this marks the culmination of months of work.
“When I was campaigning (in last year’s SU executive elections), students responded really well to (the grocery store idea) and wanted it,” Bondarchuk said.
“So I promised myself that when I took office, it would be the first thing I talked about and got moving.”
In order to accommodate the new products, SUBmart has been rearranged from a “general store” layout into the aisles of a traditional grocery store. Coolers, baskets and produce shelving have also been ordered for the store.
“We really wanted to go big or go home with this,” Bondarchuk said.
“We want to see what students want, then adjust inventory based on that.”
Bondarchuk said prices in SUBmart will be equivalent to what is found in other grocery stores near campus, and that the store will run an adjusted profit margin to accommodate increased cost of goods.
“We will be playing around with prices in the first month or so,” Bondarchuk said. “We’ll see how people respond and if they need to be lowered.”
In combination with other vendors on campus, as well as the Farmer’s Market, Bondarchuk said he hopes the grocery store will make student life a bit less stressful.
“It can be difficult to plan your day around getting groceries you’ve run out of mid-week,” he said.
“The idea behind this project is to have somewhere on campus at a comparable price, instead of making an extra trip.”
I am very much disliking the products already offered at SUBmart such as candy and “junk” food, and I strongly discouraging you from taking the above poster’s request into consideration. I don’t think period products should be sold all together. These send the wrong message and have no place on campus. You have been and continue to be insensitive to your Muslim students and the Muslim Students Association. I sincerely hope that you will not be stocking pork products in your new line of “fresh” groceries and that all foods will be strictly Halal to satisfy all students’. Peace unto you.
Are you serious? I can’t tell if you are for real or if you’re trolling. Period products should not be sold altogether??? Would you like us to come to campus and bleed everywhere? All over the floor and your lecture seats? Actually, I would really like to bleed on a lecture seat if I knew you were going to mistakenly sit in it afterwards.
Sir/Madam, after reading your post, I would like to know where you stand in the Muslim Students Association in order to speak on behalf of it. I strongly disagree with this view that with forbidding pork and only allowing Halal meat we will have a better community. Freedom of choice should be encouraged. I am not against the idea of having halal products but it should not be strictly Halal nor should we forbid pork as students may want to consume such products. I am deeply shocked by your post and I wish to know what is your answer to the statement I have just made.
One thing I think needs to be addressed as well is how expensive period supplies are on campus. Like getting milk is great and I’m really excited to be able to grab it before heading home if I need, but periods and supplies being too expensive are a huuuge issue on this campus. I spent almost 10 dollars on a 12 pack of (small) pads from SUBmart this year – which won’t last me the whole week. Can we also examine the prices of those?
Absolutely! I will pass this on to the manager of SUBmart, and personally take a look at the margins for what we carry to see if we can do better 🙂