Working the Greek system

There are many types of employment that UCLA students seek and
some have found that working for a corporation which is run for and
by the Greek system is the right fit for them.

This company, inspired by a social aspect of college life, is
Greek Express, which manages three chain stores located throughout
Southern California as well as an online store. The Westwood Greek
Express store is located on Gayley Avenue.

The screen print store, which is surrounded by the restaurants
and movie theaters of Westwood Village, specializes in printing
many of the “Greek T-shirts” that members of sororities
and fraternities wear around campus.

Other locations of Greek Express include Santa Barbara, which
serves the Greek system at UC Santa Barbara, and one in Orange
County, which caters to a variety of colleges.

The combination of maintaining an online store along with
smaller chain stores located around California allows the screen
print business some unique operating features.

Customers may specify their designs for a desired product with
programs like Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw and send them via the
Internet.

It is this feature that allows fraternities and sororities to
vary the design of their products, from Greek lettering to allusion
to popular culture.

The small screen print store not only caters to UCLA students
but it also seeks to employ them.

“The UCLA students who work here are dependable and
I’ve recommended (them) to advance on to other jobs,”
said Andrew Thaller, manager of the Westwood store.

The thinking behind the innovations that have made the Greek
Express chain successful lies in the fact that the company is
operated for and by college students.

“Customer service is a big part of it and the workers who
are UCLA students are very motivated and that helps,” Thaller
said.

The convenience of a college-town store coupled with an
interactive Web site for online shopping is part of a dynamic that
makes this chain so successful, Thaller said.

The consumers, UCLA students who frequently stroll through
Westwood Village and have access to free high-speed Internet, may
easily be targeted with this combination.

This integrated marketing approach is also spurred along by the
fact that Greek life generally has a strong presence on college
campuses.

A statement on the corporate Web site emphasizes the contrast
between Greek Express and other grass-roots companies by saying
that it’s not a “jump on the bandwagon” Internet
retailer.

Thaller also cites that the creativity which he says attracts
customers comes in large part from the students that work at Greek
Express.

“People who have work experience in general are more
creative,” he said, adding that he prefers hiring students
who have had solid work experience in the past.

Recent research suggests that businesses like Greek Express that
emphasize student employment are having an easier time finding
their niche on college campuses, as more students are seeking jobs
to pay their way through college.

According to a 2000 survey of college freshmen done by Linda J.
Sax, associate professor of education, as part of the Higher
Education Research Institute of UCLA, the number of students who
report needing to work to pay college expenses has spiked in recent
years.

In addition, according to a 2003 national survey of college
freshmen done by the Higher Education Research Institute of UCLA,
47 percent of incoming freshmen reported needing to work to pay for
college.

Saba Zafar, a third-year biology student, is one such student.
Zafar said she works at Phone Select in Hollywood on weekends, and
is just one of many students on campus who try to finance their own
education.

“It’s quite difficult to balance school and work but
it provides (me) with a sense of responsibility and feeling of
accomplishment that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” Zafar
said.

The combination of students looking for jobs and employers
targeting students for employment gives momentum to niche
businesses like Greek Express.