Main Street may no longer be main source

With nearly everything a student needs available in the University Center, the need to go off campus to eat or purchase something may slowly diminish. That fact is what has business and store owners on Main Street a bit concerned.

The new building offers far more than its predecessor. Equipped with four floors that offer a wide range of attractions, the University Center is the latest campus hot spot.

“The new University Center offers a much larger variety than ever before,” senior Kaari Naughton said.

Naughton said she looks forward to all the University Center has to offer as she finishes her college career at UWRF.

There is a cyber café, entertainment complex, two-level game room, convenience store, bank, coffee shop, involvement center, lounge areas and meeting rooms.

Chartwell’s is still the food provider for those students who have meal plans. There are four other eateries that students can choose from: Zona Mexicana, Mama Leone’s Pizza, Coyote Jacks and Mondo Subs.

While it is too soon to tell just if and how much the University Center will affect stores and businesses, it is capable of raising eyebrows in the future.

Caribou Coffee has the potential to attract students away from Lighthouse Coffee on Main Street.

“It is too soon to tell how the center will affect our business,” Jodie Rubenzer, owner of the coffee shop said.

Rubenzer said she has always been generous with UWRF students in the past by offering a 10 percent discount for those with student identification. In addition to that, students may now enjoy a free cup of coffee and a treat the first Thursday of every month.

South Fork Café may also feel the effects of the University Center, however, owner Dawn Morrow, isn’t too concerned.

“To be honest I didn’t know that there was a new University Center,” she said. “I think that it is too soon to tell.”

Restaurants, café’s and coffee shops are not the only ones at risk. Convenience stores are as well. For example, Holiday Gas Station could lose students craving a late-night snack to the convenience store located in the new building.

“I haven’t noticed a difference yet,” Holiday cashier Stephanie Karlstad said.

So far, the new convenience store seems to appeal to students.

“I don’t get off campus too much,” junior Laura Hanson said. “So the convenience store works well for me.”

Carrie Oftedahl, a stu crew desk assistant and Matt Loosbrock, a hall manager said they observed that most of the traffic coming into the building is during meal times and late night hours.

“The game room and the convenience store are quite popular in the late evening,” Loosbrock said.

The game room is so popular that at times it can frustrate students.

“I like the game room, and so does everybody else,” junior Eric Tri said. “Every time I go in there the games I want to play are always occupied.”

With everything the University Center has to offer, only time will tell how successful it will be at the expense of Main Street store owners.

“It is fabulous. I love it,” Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Terry Brown said. “I just wish that classrooms and academic space could be equally as fabulous ... ”