By Sarah Nelson
Construction for the new BYU Creamery on 900 East is on schedule and running smoothly.
The Creamery will offer shoppers fresh produce and meat, canned items, frozen foods and an in-store bakery. It will also have a full service grill and an ice cream counter, said Dean Wright, director of Dining Services.
“Our goal is to be value priced and the grocery of choice for students who live on campus,” he said.
For years Kent’s Market provided students in Heritage Halls convenient access to a grocery store. The closure of Kent’s left some students without transportation struggling to find rides to the grocery store.
Wright said BYU identified the closure of Kent’s as a major issue affecting students in Heritage Halls. BYU saw a need and wanted to meet it.
When dining services proposed remodeling and running the market BYU supported the idea, he said.
The Creamery will be a benefit to the students if the prices are competitive, said Travis Ferrell, 21, an accounting major from Weatherford, Texas.
“Sometimes BYU prices can be higher than other places,” Ferrell said.
One of Dining Services’ challenges has been the inability to buy items at the low prices offered to larger grocery stores. This has made Creamery prices higher, Wright said.
The Creamery is currently negotiating with two major grocery distributors so students will be able to buy groceries at a lower price, Wright said.
The Creamery wants to provide students with excellent pricing, he said.
To go along with the new Creamery, Dining Services will offer a new meal plan in the fall called Heritage Platinum. The meal plan will cost $600 a semester.
Students who buy the meal plan will have $110 credited to their student card at the beginning of the semester when they check in, Wright said.
This money will help students buy basic cooking supplies. Every Monday, $30 will be allocated to their card for weekly grocery shopping, Wright said.
Students can use the money on their cards at any dining service location on campus, including the Cougareat and vending machines.
Students who use the meal plan to buy groceries at the Creamery will see a savings over a person who uses cash, Wright said.
They will not have to pay sales tax on their purchases because it is a meal plan, he said.
Students will not be able to use Dining Plus at the new Creamery because dining officials feel this meal plan has enough venues, Wright said.
Student satisfaction with this idea will be evaluated at the end of Fall Semester, he said.
The Creamery is scheduled to open the first week of August to work out any glitches before students come back for the fall.
It will create 40-50 student jobs, Wright said.
Tentative hours will be Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to midnight, Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and closed on Sunday.
“The later hours are to meet the needs of students’ busy schedules. We anticipate students will have more time to shop in the evening and more people will want items from the ice cream counter and grill.
“We want it to be like the Woolworth’s counter of the 1950s,” Wright said.
Tyrone Frazier, 22, a business management major from Alpine, is happy with the convenient location of the new creamery.
“It will be handy to have something so close. When I need to buy I few things, I won’t have to make a big shopping trip,” Frazier said.
See related story:
BYU may build a Creamery in the old Kent’s Market on 900 East 02/14/2000
