UCLA Store on a discount frenzy
By Sean Greene
Dec. 3, 2009 12:05 a.m.
Students and faculty searching for a UCLA-themed gift are turning to the UCLA Store’s new and returning promotions for discounted holiday shopping.
Many buyers said they are looking to the store’s promotions to save money in a poor economy.
Kelsey Shalvis, a second-year economics student, said she is doing most of her shopping while still at school.
“I’m looking for Christmas presents for my family because they want UCLA stuff,” Shalvis said, while she searched through a stack of clothes at the store’s Patio Sale. “I’m paying for school myself, so I’m looking for cheap things, especially with the economy the way it is.”
Following a slower-than-expected start to the year because of the economic downturn, the UCLA store had a successful Halloween sale in October.
Now, the holiday shopping season represents a large portion of emblematic sales, particularly BearWear, for the UCLA Store, said Patrick Healey, director of general merchandise. For this reason, many of the store’s promotions focus on apparel purchases.
In other departments, sales are slower because they rely more on beginning-of-the-quarter sales, such as in textbooks and computers. Those sales will pick up during the winter quarter rush, Healey said.
“Every department has its own cycle that it goes on, so this is really the last big push of BearWear to go through,” he said.
The store’s goal in each promotional event is to reach out to different areas of the UCLA community, including faculty, staff, alumni and students.
The Faculty and Staff Appreciation Event offers 20 percent off most items in the store until Dec. 3. Two percent of sales from the event will go to the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA, Healey said.
Clinical professor Eric Kleerup said the UCLA Store makes up a small portion of his holiday shopping.
“We had thought about getting stuff (from the store), and this is a good excuse to do it,” Kleerup said. “(We) probably did a little more because of it.”
The store is also running several promotions targeting alumni, Healey said.
In-store and online, members of the UCLA Alumni Association receive 20 percent off most items in the store.
The Stack It Up and Save Sale will begin Dec. 7 for the first time, where the percentage off BearWear goes up with the more items purchased.
Also next week, previous customers of the UCLA store will receive free shipping on online orders of more than $75.
Shawna Truong, a second-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, was drawn into the store by the advertisements she saw.
“There’s plenty of ads around,” Truong said. “I saw the ads and decided to come in and see what other new things they had inside.”
She said she was unsure about what to buy, but still had saving money in mind.
“I’m just looking for good deals,” Truong said. “(I’m) trying to shop smart.”
