The Daily Campus

Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Matt Lin Rikki Pape (right), an 8th-semester political science major, rings up a customer at the new convenience store on the second floor of the Student Union.

The new Union Central Exchange Convenience Store on the second floor of the Student Union is now open and accepting Husky Bucks. The store has been open since early January and offers students a wide array of products including household cleaning products, over-the-counter medications and health and beauty products. The store also offers food items such as candy, salad, canned food and frozen dinners at prices that Doug Carlone, Dining Services' assistant director of convenience stores, calls "right in line" with other convenience stores in the area.

According to the Dining Services Web site, the store will be celebrating its grand opening Thursday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. At the grand opening, students can get free samples of Coca Cola and Dasani products, VitaminEnergy, which is the energy-drink version of VitaminWater, as well as Odwalla bars and beverages and cake from UConn's "Not Just Desserts" Bakery. Students can also meet Jonathan the Husky and enter to win prizes that include a mountain bike and an 80-gigabyte iPod.

Carlone said that the store "allows students to stay on campus and still get the small groceries and convenience stuff they need," in contrast to other convenience stores in the area such as Store24 and Sam's, which are off-campus. The Union Central Exchange is located near the information desk and ticket booth on the second floor of the Student Union.

The centralized location of the store is one of its big draws, according to Elise Trowel a store employee and a 6th-semester pathobiology major.

"You come to the Student Union, you grab food, then you come right up here," she said.

The store is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. until midnight and until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. On Sundays, the store opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 11 p.m.

Carlone said the store also offers a large selection of organic and natural products and will be "building the product lineup as we go into the semester." Some of the organic and natural products the store offers include macaroni and cheese, Kashi products and a few varieties of organic granola bars, among other things.

Trowel said that similar stores such as the Putnam Exchange Convenience Store, which will be opening in the Hilltop area later in the semester, and the Charter Oak Exchange Convenience Store, all offer a selection of organic and natural foods that separate it from other convenience stores in the area.

According to Dining Services' Web site, the Charter Oak Exchange is open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and closes at 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. When the Putnam Exchange opens in Hilltop, it will operate under the same hours.



Contact Aly Shea at Alison.Shea@UConn.edu.

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