The C-Store will take over the Lair, a small longue located in the Pause. Auguste Bernick/The Olaf Messenger.
Bon Appétit is launching a new convenience store for students called the C-Store. This store will have limited grocery items available, as well as expanded drink options and snacks. In an email to The Olaf Messenger, Assistant Vice President of Budget and Auxiliary Operations Angela Mathews said that construction is on track for the store to be open for January and will accept flex dollars, Ole Dollars, and other contactless payments.
The convenience store will be located in the Lair — a room owned by the Pause. However, the store will be run by Bon Appétit and not the Pause. “I oversee tech security and scheduling for the space,” Pause Operations Coordinator Aleah Keske ’24 said. “In August, I was reached out to be on a Pause/Bon Appétit Task Force and that was all I knew.”
Keske was then told that the C-Store would be built in the Lair. Initially, she was the only Pause student representative invited to the conversation. “It’s been a complicated array of emotions over the last few months,” Keske said. “I have worked in the space all four years and love the Pause. It was really sad to see it go.”
Pause Tech Manager Auguste Bernick ’24, who manages Pause events and productions, noted the importance of the Pause being a student-run organization. “I am not speaking on behalf of the Pause, I’m just speaking from my own experience,” Bernick said. “Our entire management structure is comprised of students and only students. Students need to be included in the conversation. Where’s the protection for student spaces?”
The lack of food availability is one of the biggest complaints from the student body. “There’s not enough food and options. With the new management at Bon Appétit, those things are changing,” Keske said. “We’re navigating a complicated topic around food and accessibility.”
Construction of the C-Store is set to begin soon. The creation of the C-Store will hopefully improve food accessibility for the growing campus community.
