Coke cooler will remain through evaluation period
Students will once again be able to enjoy their 99-cent Cokes from the Bookstore.
Dwight Davis, associate vice president for Auxiliary Services, said a decision was made to gather data and evaluate the 99-cent price during a period of a “couple of months.” During the evaluation period, the Bookstore cooler will stay where it’s at, and so will the price.
It should be known by the end of the semester whether the price will be permanent, he said.
“The bottom line is, we do want to listen to our customers, and we do want to make the appropriate business decision,” Davis said.
This solution was a response to a problem that arose last week when the USU Bookstore chose to remove the Coke cooler it has had since last November. The cooler was originally installed as a convenience for students, but after concerns were raised about the university’s contract with Coca-Cola, conflicts with USU Food and Dining Services and an over-saturation of the soda market in the Taggart Student Center, the Bookstore decided to remove it.
A flood of student outrage comments, including letters to the editor. Davis said this amount of concern most likely arose because students are looking for value, and they felt some would be missing if the Bookstore’s cooler was removed.
Davis said he met with the leaders from the Bookstore and Dining Services and made the decision to have an evaluation period for the 99-cent Cokes. It was also decided that Dining Services would coordinate the Coke-selling effort through the Bookstore.
As associate vice president for Auxiliary Services, Davis oversees the operations of the Bookstore and Dining Services as well as other services including housing, parking and the University Inn.
“We really are striving to provide the best possible product and make it convenient and meet the student, or our customers’, needs. Really, truly, that’s the bottom line,” Davis said. “The students are the lifeblood of the university and everything that we do is with the student in mind. So as we work through various solutions, we have to keep the student in mind.”
One important factor in the decision was the fact that Dining Services is responsible for Coca-Cola sales on campus, and that’s why they will be coordinating these efforts through the Bookstore, Davis said.
“We just really needed to coordinate our efforts and go through the right channels and make sure that we follow through,” he said.
The important consideration, since the Bookstore and Dining Services fall under the same umbrella, was to see if the prices for Coke in the Bookstore would still be feasible, considering the mission of Auxiliary Services. This mission is to balance each service as a self-sustaining unit, which means paying for operating costs and, at the same time, “stay in the black,” Davis said.
“We’re not out to make a profit. We’re out to contribute to the university,” he said.
Although they are working toward the same goal, each service may have different ideas about achieving that goal.
“Everybody has different perspectives, but that’s healthy in a business,” Davis said. “We all have a different perspective, but I think it’s important that we work together and come up with a common solution that meets the needs of the university and meets the overall mission of the university. And that’s what our goal is, and that’s what we tried to do.”
-dabake@cc.usu.edu