A 12.25 ounce box of Honey Nut Cheerios costs $3.29 at Meijer. The same box of cereal costs $8.59 at Crossroads Marketplace.
Many other products at Eastern Michigan University’s convenience stores are similarly marked up.
Alex Wehrle, a freshman majoring in a special education and cognitive impairment, said the campus markup keeps
her from shopping at any of Eastern Michigan University’s convenience stores.
“I never shop on campus because I don’t want to pay $9 for a box of cereal,” she said.
The convenience stores are operated by EMU Dining Services. Dining Services is an auxiliary, meaning it does not receive funding from EMU.
Dave Carroll, assistant director of Dining Services, said convenience store prices are inherently higher than those at retail grocers because convenience stores purchase products in smaller quantities.
“The main reason the prices are more expensive than Meijer’s is because we’re not Meijer,” Carroll said. “We can’t buy truckloads.”
David Ludwig, store director for the Ypsilanti Meijer, confirmed that distributors offer department stores like Meijer better prices because they purchase products in larger quantities.
Carroll said that as high as campus prices seem, Dining Services makes little money on its convenient store sales.
“We’re breaking even,” Carroll said. “It’s very limited.”
According to Carroll, approximately 80 percent of the convenient store sales are from candy and pop. He pointed out that those commodities are competitively priced on campus because Dining Services is able to purchase larger quantities of them.
EMU’s convenience stores are stocked by F. McConnell and Sons, Inc., a convenience store distributor.
Previously, they were stocked by Ypsilanti based Eby-Brown. Dining Services submitted a competitive bid once its contract with Eby-Brown expired. F. McConnell offered the most competitive pricing and won the bid.
“Their prices are 30 percent less than what we were paying Eby-Brown,” Carroll said.
Cheryl Strauss, district sales manager for F. McConnell, said convenient stores can’t be compared to stores like Meijer. Furthermore, she said EMU convenient stores are priced competitively with convenient stores off campus
and at other universities.
“They are very comparable and competitively priced against their competition in the convenient store industry,” Strauss said. “Other universities markup their products a lot higher because they know they can get that price on campus.”
Carroll said comparing EMU convenience stores to other convenience stores would be more fair than comparing them to large retail grocers.
Kampus Korner, a gas station and convenience store on the outskirts of EMU’s campus, sells a 1 pound 1 ounce box of Honey Nut Cheerios for $4.49.
Victors, a University of Michigan convenience store, does not sell boxes of cereal. However, Victors charges $6.49 for a four pack of Duracell AA batteries. At EMU’s Lobby Shop, the same pack of batteries is $7.19. Kampus Korner doesn’t sell batteries in packs of four. However, two packs of two can be purchased for $2.99 each for a total price of $5.98.
A package of four regular rolls of Charmin Ultra Strong toilet paper cost $3.19 at Victors and $4.09 at Crossroads. Kampus Korner did not sell a comparable brand.
Ann Klaes, assistant director of Dining Services, said Dining Services has tried to negotiate deals with regional grocers to supply groceries to campus locations, but “Eastern isn’t a big enough player for them.”
Carroll said they tried to attract Spartan Stores to campus four years ago, but Spartan has a $25,000 minimum purchase for each of its stores.
“We’re nowhere near that,” he said.
