 Media Credit: Niki Hyde As local businesses and student groups alike bid for Shatner Room 103, SSMU is making revenue-generating potential a priorityt in its decision. [Click to enlarge]
| |
With the expiration of Caférama's lease set for this summer, various businesses are competing to take over the space in Shatner. The Operations Committee charged with evaluating the different proposals will release its decision by Apr. 9 and the group with the winning proposal will gain a three year contract with the Students' Society.
The Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship chapter at McGill and Midnight Kitchen are the two student groups bidding for the space in February. If ACE wins, the current Caférama space will be transformed into a student-run café under the name UniversiTea Lounge with a percentage of the revenue directed toward domestic violence awareness.
Vadim Tulchinsky, U3 finance and director of ACE McGill, believes that their proposal has certain advantages over those of large franchising companies. Vice-President Communications Niki Hyde could not comment as she is current Photo Editor for the Tribune.
"We believe that UniversiTea Lounge would be reflective of students' desire in providing late-night beverages and snacks. There is currently no such space on campus which satisfies that," he said, adding that the café will provide a comfortable environment for students to study and eat at the same time, another kind of space that Tulchinsky finds lacking on campus.
As with any other business, the real challenge for ACE McGill was to come up with a proposal from scratch, from finding food suppliers to building a student-oriented menu, in less than a month's time. UniversiTea Lounge will be marketed toward health-conscious and environment-friendly students at McGill, offering mostly sandwiches and organic food.
"Instead of food loaded with preservatives, UniversiTea Lounge would aim to produce everything fresh with the addition of stoves and ovens," Tulchinsky said. "We couldn't promise low prices since organic food choices tend to put a premium on prices. However, we are committed to providing healthy alternatives to students at superior value."
2008 Woodie Awards
Be the first to comment on this story