Monticello Live

University of Arkansas at Monticello Chancellor Karla Hughes announced Monday that it will partner with food service vendor Aramark to bring a Starbucks Coffee experience and convenience store option to campus this fall.

At the annual UAM Scholars’ Day event on campus, Hughes announced to incoming freshmen and their families that food service vendor Aramark won the latest bid to provide catering and dining services to campus. A major piece of that contract was continuing to expand dining options for students. “We are extremely proud to continue our partnership with Aramark. Their team was instrumental in bringing one of the first Chick-Fil-A locations of its kind to our campus last fall,” said Hughes. “We are thrilled that this year, we will build on that momentum by adding Starbucks and a grab-and-go store to a fully renovated space.” Plans to bring a Starbucks to campus initiated from student feedback. “We survey our students often, and this is one of their top requests- major brands right on campus,” Hughes said.

The two new dining options will replace the “Java City” and “Sandwich Shack” facilities located inside Taylor Library. A rendering provided by Aramark shows a Starbucks-branded space that will remove a wall and add completely new finishes. According to Thomas Bedward III, director of campus dining, the Starbucks is considered a “We Proudly Serve” location. This means that while it is not a full licensed franchise, its products and overall customer experience will be almost indistinguishable from a Starbucks Coffee location. The convenience store, “Provisions on Demand,” will be located next to Starbucks and will offer light grab-and-go meal options, snacks, and beverages.

“Prospective students expect to see a number of dining options, including familiar brands,” Hughes said. “When premium brands like Starbucks and Chick-fil-A open on our campus, it comes with a lot of planning on their end. They are choosing to invest in our campus, because we’re a good investment. And with Aramark, we can continue to invest in our students.”Bedward says they plan to have both new dining options open for the fall semester. Aramark has served as the provider of campus dining and catering services since 1999.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 15th, 2019 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Business, UAM News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.