‘The Store on Campus’ will now be under-management of The Student’s Union, with the relaunch of the new shop having taken place on 16th of September.
Changing the way the shop is managed will allow the Students’ Union to present a multitude of new benefits to students, while maintaining the same level of service that has always existed.
CO-President of Education and Campaigns Nayab Cheema, recently said in her official statement to the students union website www.su.rhul.ac.uk, said: “We’re really excited by this new development and what it means for our members.
“Our focus is on offering students great value while putting money back in their pockets. This means we’re getting rid of card charges and minimum spends so you’re free to pay for your shopping however you want.
Additionally “We’re also scrapping all VAT on sanitary products and absorbing this as a cost,” co- President of Welfare and Diversity, Jack Kilker added.
From Kilker’s official statement, and one of his first actions in the position of Co-President of Welfare and Diversity, he said “I am incredibly pleased to announce that, as part of the Students’ Union acquisition of the Store on Campus, we can now confirm that all sanitary items will be sold at the price it costs us to sell them. What this means is that we will be selling these items at the price for which we buy them, plus a few pence to cover the cost of staffing etc. which is required for their sale.”
Continuing to say, “Across the UK there have been public campaigns around the tampon tax, which have become increasingly prevalent in mainstream media over the past year, culminating in the End Tampon Tax campaign, and a change.org petition; ‘Stop Taxing Periods. Period.’ While I’m very happy that we have been able to remove this taxation and extortion from sanitary items at the Students’ Union, we are also very much aware that this is a small win in terms of the barriers which the luxury item tax and high retailer prices present to people who menstruate.
Something we will be doing going forward is to source student opinion on what we are selling in the shop, and as part of this, I would like us to survey students and ask for feedback on the range of sanitary items that we’re offering”
On the official statement given to the SU website Jack also said how “Another key point to stress is that all income generated by the shop goes directly back into the services we provide for you as your Students’ Union!”
There is also a number of changes to make the shop more accessible for students as Nayab continued: “We’ve looked at how best we can serve students living on campus and will be extending the opening hours of the shop. It’ll now be open 08:00-22:00 on weekdays and 10:00-20:00 at the weekend.
“Finally, we’re also installing a new Costa coffee machine in the shop so you’ll be able to get that much needed caffeine fix first thing in the morning.”
In response to feedback given from students, the shop will be introducing a series of new product ranges, including budget friendly items to help reduce the cost of living on campus ultimately making student life more affordable.
The changes needed for the shop required a refit of the current premises and reopened under a new name as the ‘UnionShop’. If you have any ideas about products you’d like to see in the new shop you are encouraged to get in touch via Twitter @SURHUL or alternatively contact Nayab and Jack by email.