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Panda might hurt ASUCLA profits

By Harold Lee

Dec. 12, 2004 9:00 p.m.

In the absence of Panda Express and Taco Bell, two of the
university’s more popular restaurants, other Associated
Students of UCLA restaurants thrived. Now that Panda has reopened,
the long-term effect on ASUCLA restaurants remains uncertain.

Panda was under renovation to meet current construction codes
for a large part of the summer and fall quarter. It reopened Nov.
28.

The initial impact of Panda’s reopening can be seen more
in other third-party restaurants, like Rubio’s Baja Grill and
La Cucina by Sbarro, than ASUCLA’s own restaurants, said Rich
Delia, finance director for ASUCLA.

In the 28-day period from Oct. 24 to Nov. 20, when Panda was
still closed, other third-party restaurants reported higher incomes
and customer counts than they were budgeted for.

For example, Rubio’s Baja Grill exceeded its expected
income for that period when Panda was still closed by about 25
percent, according to ASUCLA income and customer count reports.

From Nov. 21 to Dec. 2, when Panda had reopened, Rubio’s
Baja Grill’s actual income exceeded its expected income by
only 7 percent.

Before Panda’s reopening, other ASUCLA restaurants, like
those in the Cooperage, saw long lines during the lunchtime rush.
Now, the lines have somewhat diminished.

But customers are still willing to stand in long lines at Panda
even while the wait is shorter at other ASUCLA restaurants.

“The food actually got better,” said Julio Garcia, a
fifth-year history and Chicano studies student who has been eating
at Panda since his freshman year. “It’s worth the
wait.”

For others, the lines cause them to go elsewhere.

“When (the line) gets past Relaxtation and Wetzel’s
Pretzels, that’s way too long for me,” said Sarah
Sterlace, a fifth-year psychology and African studies student.

The impact on ASUCLA-run restaurants could potentially harm
ASUCLA profits, Delia said.

Because Panda is owned by a third party and only pays a
percentage of its sales and the rent for the space it occupies, it
pays a smaller percentage of its profits to ASUCLA compared to
campus restaurants owned and run by the student union, like Mucho
Taco and Shorty’s Subs.

“We do better on our own operations, profit-wise, but we
need to provide the customers with the food they want,” he
said.

It is too early to tell how soon the popularity at other campus
restaurants will rebound after Panda’s reopening, Delia
continued.

“With a new opening … there’s an initial surge and
then it starts to level out,” he said. “I would think
within a month or two, we’ll know.”

But ASUCLA seems to have benefitted as a whole, since the total
restaurant sales have been higher than before Panda opened, said
Roy Champawat, associate director of on-campus restaurants.

“There are new people eating in the system and
that’s good,” Champawat said.

The permanent removal of another popular campus eatery, Taco
Bell, at the end of October prompted ASUCLA to quickly find ways to
fill the restaurant’s absence.

Taco Bell’s contract with ASUCLA was ended in October amid
protests that the restaurant’s parent company, Yum! Brands,
contributes to alleged labor abuse of Immokalee, Fla. workers.

In its place, Shorty’s Subs, an ASUCLA-run sandwich
restaurant, was moved to Campus Corner from the Cooperage on
Ackerman’s A-level. To fill the demand for inexpensive
Mexican food, Mucho Taco filled the sandwich restaurant’s old
location.

Within the next quarter, several other changes will be made to
the campus restaurant lineup, especially Campus Corner, where
Shorty’s Subs is located. To take more advantage of the space
available there, ASUCLA is planning on adding a line of hot subs
and Mediterranean style gyros and sandwiches.

“Initially, we were doing what we could do relatively
quickly,” Champawat said, of replacing Taco Bell with
Shorty’s Subs. “Now, we have a little more time to fill
out the menu.”

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Harold Lee
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