Tuesday, February 10, 1998
Two new restaurants to open in Treehouse
ASUCLA Future campus dining attempts to strike balance with
privatized food corporations
By Michael Weiner
Daily Bruin Contributor
Two chain restaurants are being contracted by the students’
association (ASUCLA) to open stores in Treehouse at the beginning
of the fall quarter of 1998.
"What is planned at this point is that we’ll have a fresh
Mexican restaurant and a fresh pasta restaurant going into
Treehouse," said Terence Hsiao, ASUCLA director of business
development.
"The old Treehouse serving lines would be closed down," he
continued.
ASUCLA feels that it can make more money renting out the space
in the Treehouse to outside operators, rather than continuing to
operate the sandwich lines which reside there now.
ASUCLA has not yet released the names of the restaurants because
contractual negotiations are ongoing, but they are chains
comparable to Panda Express and Taco Bell, which already have
stores on campus.
Construction is scheduled to begin in June and be completed in
time for the new school year in the fall.
Hsiao said that both restaurants will hire students, which was
one of the criterium ASUCLA Executive Director Patricia Eastman set
out for contracting with outside operators.
"We did ask both of (the restaurants) if it was their intention
to only staff with non-students and they said no," Hsiao said.
It has not been determined whether students will apply for jobs
directly with the operator, or if jobs will be obtained through
ASUCLA.
The association currently operates food service providers in the
Cooperage and Treehouse in Ackerman Union and rents out space to
private chains Panda Express and Taco Bell.
ASUCLA officials said that no further food services
privatization is planned because they want to preserve a
combination of both associations businesses, which offer less
expensive food and better student wages and private businesses,
which often offer higher quality food.
"We believe we can best serve the overall needs of the campus by
having this mix," Hsiao said.
Eastman said that complete privatization would not allow the
ability to adapt to changes in students’ tastes.
"We wouldn’t have any flexibility to change," Eastman said. "We
wouldn’t be able to deliver the same kind of income."
Hsiao echoed Eastman’s sentiments.
"What you gain with privatization is a known product, but what
you lose is flexibility," Hsiao said.
Hsiao said that in general, ASUCLA cannot be sure whether
privatization will be more financially productive than operating
its own restaurants.
"We’re not really certain what the outcome will be," Hsiao said.
"It’ll either be somewhat better, somewhat worse or the same."
ASUCLA hopes to balance privatization with continuing to improve
the restaurants that it operates. Hsiao sites the closing of the
relatively unpopular Hip Pockets in the Cooperage in favor of the
more popular Crunch Time.
"(Hip Pockets) just wasn’t nearly as popular as the other things
there," Hsiao said.
ASUCLA board member James Friedman does not want to see complete
privatization of the association’s food services.
"We need to recognize what we can do, and do the best we can,"
said Friedman, who is the chair of the ASUCLA food services
strategy committee.
"The question will always be asked, ‘Would we be serving the
students better if we got out of food services altogether?’ I don’t
think the answer is yes," Friedman continued.
Anita Cotter, also a board member and a member of the food
services strategy committee, noted that Treehouse has not been
remodeled since Ackerman Union opened in 1961.
"We’re behind the times, in food particularly," Cotter said.