Whither the Munchies?

Like a round, royal blue-accented peg in a square hole, Cabot House’s Celeris convenience store has struggled to fit into Quad life. Envisioned two years ago as a nearby alternative to 7-11 for hungry Quadlings, the store has evidently not yet attracted enough customers and is now losing money at the pace of $25,000 a year.

Though it serves a useful purpose in the Quad, allowing residents to avoid possibly dangerous late-night Doritos runs to Porter or Harvard Square, the Celeris pilot program must now either take steps to break even or close in failure. Satisfying the munchies for 75 students a day, while a noble cause, isn’t enough to justify the huge expenditure.

Celeris’ financial problem has two possible causes. Either there never was a true demand for a Quad convenience store, or else that demand has not been fully harnessed because of managerial or marketing hiccups. On that issue, the jury is still out. Some Quad residents still remain unaware that Celeris exists, and many of those who know about it visit very infrequently. In the words of one Pforzheimer House resident: “It’s really not an integral part of the Quad.”

But despite the lackluster feeling toward the convenience store, giving up on Celeris right now would be premature, and Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) is right to allow students to try to turn it around. Students have an impressive track record running the House grills and, most importantly, they have an inherent knowledge of student needs.

For one thing, students know what other students like to eat. With a near monopoly on snack-craving Quadlings, Celeris should primarily focus on stocking the most highly demanded products. With students at the helm, expensive and undesirable refreshments—including stale, neglected gourmet gummy bears—will likely be cleared from the shelves in favor of more popular and profitable snacks.

More than stocking the proper merchandise, though, Celeris needs to become part of the Quad community if it hopes to break even. If the basement of Cabot E Entryway becomes a social spot rivaling the House grills, Celeris’ success will be assured. Indeed, students have already taken steps in this area. Students have recently set up a seating area in the store so customers can eat and socialize; this simple common-sense, community-building measure shows that students have good instincts for the kind of details that their fellow customers appreciate.

Student management or no student management, Celeris should also begin employing students. Not only will student employees put a more social face on the store, following the example of House grills, but they can also keep the store open later hours without the four-hour minimum work restrictions, reducing Celeris’ main expenditure.

Between saving money through student employment and better-targeted merchandise and generating revenue through publicizing and popularizing the store, Celeris’ future has the potential to be bright. The students tasked with revamping Celeris ought to do everything in their power to change this last-chance convenience store into a staple of Quad life.