MacHall businesses post strong September numbers

By Scott Strasser, October 20 2015 — 

The Students’ Union had a solid financial start to the semester, with their MacHall businesses posting strong September numbers.

La Taqueria, the SU’s new Mexican food vendor, had approximately 500 visitors per day in September — roughly twice the expected number.

SU vice-president operations and finance Sarah Pousette attributed La Taqueria’s success to the range of food options available.

“I think students really enjoy having a different food option in MacHall and enjoy having a guaranteed vegan choice and a guaranteed halal choice,” Pousette said. “At the same time, students are still able to get things like fries, which is what they enjoyed about the previous vendor there.”

On the other side of MacHall, Stör enjoyed a 20 per cent sales increase from last September.

While Pousette believes higher enrolment numbers contributed to this bump, Stör’s increase in business was also helped by adding credit and debit payment options this summer.

“The convenience to students has been enhanced and we’re glad we can have that and that students are using it,” Pousette said.  “We’ve been selling out our fresh food options there almost every day, which are made in the Den.”

Thirty-eight per cent of Stör’s September sales were purchased with debit or credit.

The Den and Black Lounge also had a successful September. The Den re-opened on Sept. 3 after receiving a $480,000 renovation this summer.

“I know there were a lot of students interested in coming to see the Den once it was renovated,” Pousette said.

According to Pousette, Thursden has been at its 800-person capacity every week this semester. This is an improvement over last year when the Den struggled with sales in September.

Both Stör and the Den made about $20,000 more in gross revenue compared to last year.

“I think the number one thing is that we’ve enhanced our customer service, as well as the ease of use for customers coming in, so I think that is why [businesses] have been successful.”