Campus specialty coffeehouses to become convenient stores

Two MSU specialty coffeehouses will close their doors this fall and both be replaced by Sparty’s Convenience Stores.

Barista Cafe, open since 2000 in Case Hall, and Aroma Borealis, open since 2007 in Snyder-Phillips Hall, will become Sparty’s Convenience Store hybrids, Joe Garza said, manager of Sparty’s. Both will offer both coffeehouse and convenience store items.

Garza said the transformation to Sparty’s is an attempt to combine the campus cafés and coffee shops under one management.

Both Sparty’s and the specialty coffeehouses are under the Division of Housing and Food Services, but Kurt Kwitkowski and Lagretta Riley currently manage Aroma Borealis and Barista Cafe, respectively. The transformation will put all the coffeehouses on campus under Garza’s direction.

Barista Cafe and Aroma Borealis aren’t as well known as Sparty’s, which was another reason behind the change, Garza said. Sparty’s grosses about $4.5 million in sales per year.

“With all the 19 locations across campus, it’s going to make students more aware of the brand,” Garza said.

While most everyone who lives in residence halls has heard of Sparty’s, Garza said, only a few people have heard of Barista Cafe and Aroma Borealis.

Both Barista Café and Aroma Borealis offer items to students from their meal plan, meaning the students can swipe their student ID to purchase some items.

Bruce Haskell, associate director of University Housing, said meal plans will no longer include coffeehouse items. The meal plans were only instituted at the coffeehouses as replacement meals for students whose schedules conflicted with cafeteria hours, he said.

Heather Dolis, student supervisor of Barista Cafe, said most students use their meal plans to buy items. It’s more convenient for students, she said, because meal plans are already paid for.

Even if meal plans are not offered, Dolis said she thinks the new businesses will succeed.

“I think it will be a slow transition,” Dolis said. “There might be less business at first, but Sparty’s is pretty big, and with enough advertising I think they could make it successful.”

Sarah DeBoer, a Barista Cafe employee, said that she would be sad to see the café go.

“There won’t be as much variety on campus, and having all convenience stores would be boring,” DeBoer said. “I like the idea of having both Sparty’s and the specialty coffeehouses. Plus, Barista is cheaper than the Sparty’s stores.”

Riley, who also serves as the dining services assistant manager for Case and Wonders Halls said the switch to Sparty’s will give the students more options.

“Anything that we do is for the betterment of the students,” Riley said. “They are our voice that we are listening to.”

Barista Cafe and Aroma Borealis will undergo some remodeling changes, but the transition should be seamless, Richard Bortel said, administrative manager of Sparty’s. Barista Cafe and Aroma Borealis both have seating areas, but they aren’t used very often, he said. Food racks will replace some of the seating to give students more options.

“They will lose some of the seating, but we are actually giving the customers more of what they want,” Bortel said.

Sally Albrecht, a human resource management sophomore who lives near Aroma Borealis, said that she thinks a Sparty’s Convenience Store would be welcomed.

“I think that one of the problems is there isn’t any sort of convenience store in the complex,” she said. “I think they might get more customers when it becomes a Sparty’s because there will be more options.”

Published on Thursday, April 24, 2008