Students' Union shop unveils plans to expand due to long customer queues
A shop at an Essex university is set to expand to allow it to stock a “great range” of goods and items, with bosses saying students are calling for a wider variety of items on sale at the business. The Student Union Shop, at the University of Essex, in Wivenhoe Park, Colchester is behind the proposals which will see the shop take over office space as well as change the entrance and frontage.
The plans state customers face long queues which obstruct other customers and students moving around the shop and getting items off shelves, due to the “limitations imposed by the size and shape of the available space.” It also states that the shop cannot offer the full range of products it wants to due to an “awkward layout.”
The plans state: “The university proposes to enlarge the shop so it can stock a greater range of goods and items, particularly those which are desired by the large, and culturally diverse student body, and provide a much enhanced customer experience that involves less queuing. The shop will be extended into ancillary office accommodation to the rear and the adjacent entrance in order to increase display floorspace. This will involve the loss of six small offices and reconfiguration of the adjacent entrance.
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“The expansion of the shop will allow the university to better cater for the needs of the student and staff bodies so making it a more attractive place in which to learn, work and live. The proposal will help the university providing a more social setting and experience assisting students to acclimatise to their new surrounding space. Students with a greater social presence and sense of cohesion then go on to explore and contribute to Colchester’s wider economy and social viability.”