Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus

Opening an Affordable Grocery Store at Wayne State University

Sadfah Shohatee
Wayne State University

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus

CONTENTS

Executive Summary ....

3
Introduction .... 4
Problem 5
6
Objectives ...
6
Solution .. 7
Method .. 7
8
Resources
8
Schedule . 9
Qualifications . 9
Management . 10
Costs . 11

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus
Conclusion

11
Appendix .. 12
References 13

Executive Summary
The need for a new grocery market on Wayne State Universitys main campus is
extremely imperative. Although Wayne State University offers a wide variety of small
restaurants and convenience stores all over campus, it lacks providing healthier alternatives to
students. Because of this, college students take advantage of the proximity and convenience of
these businesses and choose to spend a majority of their lunches and dinners eating out here.
However, not only is the cost of eating out at these restaurants or picking up small meals from
these stores regularly extremely pricey, but this can also become detrimental to the overall health
of the student body.
The problems that these small restaurants have created are:
1. Since college students are primarily between the ages of 18-25, there is an
increased risk of developing chronic diseases from bad eating lifestyles
2. Loss of money that could otherwise be spent on nutritional foods
3. Negatively compromises the way students function in school due to bad eating
habits
Consequently, this is why I feel it is imperative that we take into account the dangerous
risks and effects our main campus stores has on Wayne States students and open up an

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus

affordability grocery market on main campus. Since Wayne State provides dormitories for their
students, there should be an obligation to help promote better lifestyles for these students. It is
important for Wayne States Board of Governors to approve the construction of a new grocery
store and link with the Detroit City Council in order to begin this process. By opening up a
grocery store on campus, not only will this help students to lead better eating lifestyles, but it
will in turn help them produce better results towards their academic success.
Introduction
Currently, the Wayne State campus does not provide an affordable and nutritious food
option to its students in the form of a grocery store. Because of this, there is an underlying health
issue for their students, and especially the residents that live in the university dorms. For these
college students, the most convenient and affordable food options revolve around drug store
snacks or unhealthy amounts of various foods, such as microwaveable meals. And although there
are many small restaurants and stores on campus, the cost of eating out every day is not only
wasting students money but also becoming harmful to the health of the students.
With an immense amount of extensive research in the form of objectives, solutions,
methods, resources and more, it is clear that the importance and need for a new grocery store on
campus is real. This is something that many students have requested and hoped would eventually
happen. With the help of interviewing many college students, both that live on and off campus, I
was able to find primary research that supported this statement. Additional research was made
into the habits of students living on/off-campus and the way college has affected their overall
eating habits as well.

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus

Problem
For students living on campus, their college dorms are their homes. It is best to provide
them with an affordable way to buy fruits and vegetables to influence them into eating better and
healthier. Their health should not be overlooked and compromised by the affordability or
convenience of drug store food options or microwaveable meals. As the rate in which students
live on campus continuously increases, the clear lack of affordable, healthy food options for
them on main campus remains low. And with no affordable grocery store markets near their
dormitory buildings, they often result to cheap, on-campus meals and snacks from stores right
along their dorms. Moreover, I was able to survey 61 students that live both on or off-campus on
their eating habits. After emailing the participants a link to a survey, I was able to collect and
analyze the results and find significant outcomes. Of the 61 participants, 26 identified themselves
as living on-campus. From the 26 that live on-campus, I found these results:

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus

From the 35 that identified themselves as living off-campus, I concluded these results:

As you can see, the majority of the students that live both on and off-campus showed that
their diet is definitely compromised due to the convenience or affordability of less healthy foods.
According to Medical Dailys Food Insecurity: Why 59% Of College Students May Suffer From
Malnutrition, since the majority of college students are comprised of people between the ages of
18-25, they put themselves at great risk at developing chronic diseases, such as anemia, asthma,
heart disease and arthritis, by this type of lifestyle.
Objectives
To successfully solve this issue, we need to work together in order to make sure that a
grocery store that opens can do the following:

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus

Provide a variety of healthy foods for students: there should be various fruits, vegetables,

oils, meat and other daily essentials.

Allow any student to purchase items with their Wayne State One Cards since the majority

of students deposit money onto their cards to help speed up money exchanges on campus.
Be near the students dorms and give them easy and quick access to enter the store. Most
of the stores on campus that are within walking distance to the dormitories are all
convenient drug stores or restaurants. In order to further motivate the students to eating
healthy, there should be one closer to their homes. This is also because many of oncampus students dont usually use their personal vehicles for transportation around
campus.

Proposed Solution
I propose to work closely with the Wayne State Board of Governors in order to work
through this project carefully. With their support, the project can be furthered to contacting the
Detroit City Council to arrange and set up the operation. As there are already many buildings, it
would be long and tedious to break them down and renovate them. That is why I propose an
empty space directly on main campus be the home to the campus very own grocery market on
Warren Avenue, at approximately 51 W. Warren. This area is a huge open platform of grass and it
is right across the street from Wayne States Welcome Center. This area is full of students every
single day that pass to and from classes. The effect of an affordable market being opened in this
area would be overwhelmingly significant. Not only will this store help the students to live better
lives, but also effect all the people who pass through downtown Detroit every day.
Method
The method that would provide the best results of the proposed solution are through these steps:
1. Wayne States endorsement: The Wayne State Board of Governors play a crucial role in
giving the proposal its first endorsement. With their approval, the whole proposal could
then be put into action and submitted to the Detroit City Council for further approval.

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus

2. Detroits endorsement: The job of the Detroit City Council is to link with WSUs Board
of Governors in order to provide the necessary licensing and tools to help start the
process of the actual construction of the building.
3. Construction of building: After the Detroit City Council gives the plan permission to
begin, it is the job of the construction crew to begin the actual making of the building.
One of the more popular construction businesses in Detroit is Turners. They began
working to help build some of the most prominent manufacturing buildings in Michigan,
such as Ford Motor Company. They would be a great helping hand for this process.
4. Food Source: Once the overall construction of the building is done, the key necessity then
would be to provide the actual products for the market. This could be through linking
with local farms, big businesses or utilizing Wayne States very own products.
The help of volunteering college students or the President of Wayne State University, M. Roy
Wilson, could be extremely beneficial to help encourage and bring awareness to the new grocery
market. The point here would be to help bring the students to feel comfortable adjusting to new
eating habits.
Resources Needed
In order to do this, there is the need of cooperation from several people:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Wayne States Board of Governors: they are the first step in giving consent to this project
Detroit City Council: the necessary licensing, funds and endorsement given is essential
Construction Crew: this crew will be responsible for the actual creation of the market
Food source: the actual products that will be sold in the market
Volunteers: raising awareness of the creation of the grocery market is important

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus

Schedule
The schedule may seem very tedious but it is necessary in order to have the best way to
complete this project: This schedule can be the framework to a specifically designed plan:

Work to be Completed

Dates

Contacting Wayne State officials and getting

an agreement to plan
Link Wayne State officials with Detroit City
Council to figure out the plan
Gathering materials and resources needed

November December

Begin building

March Throughout summer

December January
January March

Qualifications
As an undergraduate student, I have been on campus for the majority of every school
week. Even when I dont have class, I feel the campus is somewhere I can study and spend the
most of my time. And although I dont live on campus, I usually buy lunch on the days that Im
on campus. Since Im on main campus, I have a limited set of healthy food options I can choose
from. Thus, I am familiar with unhealthy eating habits and dining it to the restaurants that are
closest to me. Also, I have friends who live on campus and found the majority of their pantries
and fridges was full of microwaveable meals and take-out. I was able to link this with the cost,
convenience and proximity to the nearest food to their home.

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus
10

Management
Since this is ultimately a huge operation, there will definitely be a divide between the
different management positions. For starters, the Wayne State Board of Governors will be the
ones to approve and initiate the project. Once this is settled, they will have to work with the
Detroit City Council in order to get the right permitting and licensing to begin working on
building the market. In order for this happen though, Wayne State must handpick a grocery store
chain market they would like to collaborate with, such as a Trader Joes or a Walmart, or, if they
prefer not to open a chain market on campus, if they want to open a new Wayne State grocery
market. Then they can eventually find the right construction company and begin the actual
constructing of the market. After this, they will of course need to find suppliers of their fruits and
vegetables. Here they can link with local farms or big manufacturing companies in order to find
the best suitable option for a campus market.

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus
11

Costs
The first cost would be towards the construction crew and their job. The overall cost for
the workers, new building and resources for it would be 200 thousand dollars. Since this is a
grocery store, the refrigeration will be a key part of the whole market. Thus, the costs for that is
an additional 150 thousand dollars. Next is to provide pre-opening costs. This entitles expenses
for labor force, training and business licenses. Then, the cost for equipment packaging, such as
store equipment, inventory or products, all round to about 230 thousand dollars. With the help of
Detroit funds and Wayne State University grants, the amount of money needed can definitely be
easily covered.
This table helps detail the costs:
Task
Overall construction work
Refrigeration
Pre-opening expenses

Cost
$200,000
$150,000
$70,000

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus
12
Equipment package (store equipment,
inventory, products)
Total:

$230,000
$650,000

Conclusion
As Wayne State University has always been open-minded, kind and considerate towards
its students, it has also always been a great addition to Detroit itself. One of the many ways it can
continue to be one of our citys prideful schools is with the new addition of the grocery market. A
new grocery market on main campus can only further enhance the ability of WSUs students and
lead them to greater and healthier futures. Ultimately, the success of Wayne States students is
dependent on Wayne State itself so a new grocery market should be taken into great
consideration to help all students live healthier, longer and more successful lives.

Appendix
Do you live on-campus at Wayne State University?
Yes
No

26
36

Do you feel like your diet is often compromised by affordability or convenience of fast food or
microwaveable foods?
Yes
No

40
9

Would opening an affordable grocery store at the center of campus help better your diet?
Yes
No
Unsure

51
5
6

If you do/did not live on-campus, would an affordable grocery store on campus still benefit you?
Yes

50

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus
13
No

References

Borreli, L., & Lizette Borreli Liz is a Senior Reporter at Medical Daily who is an outdoorsy
sports enthusiast focused on sexual health, relationships and healthy living. read more.
(2014). Why 59% Of College Students May Suffer From Malnutrition. Retrieved
December 06, 2016, from http://www.medicaldaily.com/food-insecurity-why-59-collegestudents-may-suffer-malnutrition-268109
Detroit. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.turnerconstruction.com/officenetwork/detroit
Start Up Costs | Save-A-Lot. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://save-alot.com/own/become-an-owner/estimated-start-up-costs.html

Proposal for Opening an Affordable Grocery Store on Wayne State University Campus
14
What Are the Grocery Outlet Startup Costs and Fees? | Grocery Outlet | Own a Grocery Store.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 06, 2016, from
http://www.ownagroceryoutlet.com/research/what-are-the-startup-costs-and-fees/