It’s no secret. 49er Shops convenience stores generally have higher prices than other stores that sell a lot of the same things, but many on this campus struggle to understand why this difference exits.
49er Shops adjusts its prices to be comparable to those at other convenience stores, said Rosa Hernandez-Henderson, director of communications and human resources for the organization, but many of the items at the 7-Eleven on Palo Verde Avenue and Atherton Street, for example, are still cheaper than those at the Outpost Convenience Store.
In an unofficial price comparison that involved the Outpost convenience store, 7-Eleven, Albertsons and Pavilions, the 49er Shops convenience store prices were almost always higher.
“The overall mission for the 49er Shops is … very unique and different than traditional commercial markets,” Hernandez-Henderson said. “As an auxiliary of CSULB, our mission is to support the campus through our goods and services, as well as to promote student success throughout our operations. In contrast, traditional grocery stores and convenience stores are for-profit and their mission is to make money for their stock-holders.”
Hernandez-Henderson also explained that the organization regularly conducts pricing surveys to compare itself with other convenience stores but that some prices are often harder to match because the organization is not a chain and can’t expand like one.
But in an effort to save money, all four on-campus convenience stores, the Beach Hut, the Student Union Convenience Store, the Outpost Convenience Store and the Bookstore Convenience Store order their products together in bulk in an effort to save money, according to Hernandez-Henderson.
Still, many students like senior Elena Sarmiento said they would much rather shop off campus because of the price difference.
But having fewer new customers than regular stores already makes it more difficult for 49er Shops to increase its revenue and lower its prices, Hernandez-Henderson said.
“Revenues generated allow us to make contributions to the campus, including through capital investments like the recently renovated Outpost Grill and Convenience Store,” Hernandez-Henderson said.
Paulo Torres, a 7-Eleven employee, said a lot of CSULB students use the 7-Eleven next to campus, especially students in the music department, who are much closer to that store.
49er Shops, which manages the convenience stores on campus, is a non-profit auxiliary of the Cal State University system and is a part of 90 public auxiliary organizations from all of the CSU campuses.
49er Shops has about 500 student employees, raises money for scholarships and donates money and products to the CSULB campus.
According to the 49er Shops’ 2009 taxes, their total expenses outweighed total revenues by about $2 million. This means that 49er Shops Inc. was spending more than they were making in 2009.
According to Hernandez-Henderson, this loss doesn’t come from the convenience stores but comes from the bookstore since students are finding other ways, like online shopping, to find their textbooks.
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