SJU opens new mini mart

What happens if you’re sleeping at St. John’s and wake up in the wee hours of the morning feeling sick or hungry? The nearest convenience store is 5.7 miles away, and you probably don’t want to drive at that time of night or don’t have a car at all. Maybe you call a friend or bump into someone in the hallway, but chances are you’ll be forced to stick it out.

Not anymore.

The mini mart, open 24/7 in SJU’s Sexton Commons directly across from the bookstore, is an on-campus option for these situations.

According to Russ Klein, SJU physical plant director, the idea was first proposed about two years ago.

“One of our employees in dining worked for Concordia [College], and they had implemented this project called a micro market. It was 24/7 access, and it was wildly successful,” Klein said. Further conversation revolved around “some of the gaps in the student experience here at St. John’s, and we started thinking.”

Thanks to a partnership with Bernick’s, the mini mart is stocked with a limited but wide variety of items: bottled beverages, sandwiches, freezer meals, candy bars, bags of chips, toiletries like toothpaste, deodorant and shaving cream and medical products including cough drops, Tums and aloe vera.

The goal is to be able to provide for students in all situations, especially for those late-night emergencies. Students are already using the space, judging by the empty box of Twix ice cream bars and other depleted quantities.

“They have good options,” CSB first-year Sophia Haug said, who walked into the mini mart to check it out for the first time on Tuesday, pointing at the cases of items. “Yeah, I do [think it’s a good addition to campus]. It’s easy, especially because it’s self-checkout, so you don’t have to wait for someone else.”

While self-checkout and no human attendant may invoke the thought of theft, Klein said that he’s not too worried.

“We’ve consulted with a few other colleges that have done this, and they’ve said theft is not as big of an issue as what you would think. . . We have some good students here who are pretty honest,” he said, also noting that between the card entry and two cameras, it’s fairly easy to determine who comes in and what they pick up.

Students are able to use their credit card to purchase items–flex dollars do not work. There are plans to explore other payment options in the future.

If all goes well, there may also be plans for a second location at St. John’s.

“We will see how it goes. And if it goes well, we want to have more dialogue about putting one down in lower campus in Flynntown,” Klein said.

Klein specifically mentioned the McKeown Center, located between the Vincent Court Apartments and the Seton Townhomes, as a second mini mart location. The building, which has laundry facilities and some common spaces like lounges and study rooms, has been the source of speculation about a number of additions recently, from a Brother Willie’s Pub move to another location for students to buy food.

Regardless, the only thing that’s missing from the mini mart is an official name. Klein said that he welcomes suggestions on that part of the process, as well as any other feedback that students may have.