Campus Auxiliary Services (CAS) has officially teamed up with both Pepsi Cola of the Hudson Valley and Shop24, LLC to bring “Shop24,” a 24-hour consumer system, to SUNY New Paltz.
CAS began the process of researching ways to bring Shop24 to campus back in winter of 2010 and spring of 2011, Assistant Director and Controller of CAS Don Diamond said.
Diamond said Shop24 will be located on the Student Union (SU) plaza, on the west side of the SU and directly adjacent to Capen Hall.
Diamond said the customized external surfaces are still being designed. He said CAS anticipates the finished unit will have sides that will resemble the brick in the Parker Quad and a roof that will resemble the buildings in the Hasbrouck Quad. The concept was modeled off the unit installed on the SUNY Cortland campus.
“The administration had favorable feedback, but they were concerned with the appearance of the unit,” Diamond said. “They didn’t want it to look like an oversized vending machine.”
Diamond said he believes Shop24 will benefit both the school and the students based on the convenience and safety factors by limiting the necessity of leaving campus. Students will be able to buy products they cannot get at any other place on campus, such as laundry detergent.
“These units do most of their business on campuses…between 10 at night and two to three in the morning,” Diamond said.
Jonathan Freifeld, a fourth-year political science major and one of the CAS Board student representatives, said he thinks Shop24 is a great idea.
“I believe it will provide a safer place for students to get food and other convenience items at night without going off campus,” Freifeld said.
Diamond said the innovative unit may also prove to be a potential selling point to prospective students.
Diamond said the basic unit will cost CAS $250,000 with “installation and customization” costs between $30,000 and $50,000.
The official ‘grand opening’ will probably take place in late August or early
September 2012.
so thaaaaaats where my tuition goes.