Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is hoping it will be able to double
The Wing’s revenue next year despite a shaky first year of business.
By budgeting for the purchase of newer food and drink products and selling tickets for events at the location, CUSA hopes to make more than $200,000 in revenue from its year-old convenience store.
“When The Wing first opened, there were a lot of unknown variables,” said vice-president (finance) Jacob Howell in an interview.
“We didn’t know where what would work, what the peak times were and how to keep making a profit.”
“I think that we’ll be able to change that now.”
Despite numbers showing CUSA was not able to meet its projected sales last year, the association is increasing the purchase of confectionary, beverages and fresh food on-the-go this year.
Asked whether it’s wise to add more funds towards a business losing money, Howell said, “If we want to get an increase in revenue, then there are going to be more expenses.”
“Right now we offer maybe 10-15 products at The Wing,” he said. “If you were to toss in 30-40 new products, I think it’s fairly reasonable that you’re going to be attracting new customers that haven’t been there before.”
Partnering with local businesses to bring in products that are new to Carleton will help bring more profit to the business, Howell added.
“Look at Tim Hortons, some people go get coffee every single morning,” he said. “If we want to hit that kind of niche market, like if our customers want to buy meat pies every day before class, then we can cater to those and make profit off of that.”
When The Wing was introduced last year, then vice-president (finance) Luke Taylor rented out the space used by CUSA’s former convenience store called Henry’s to INS Market.
INS Market will pay $48,000 in rent to CUSA this year, well above its rent of $32,000 last year. “That’s a profit we make because of our contract with them that allows yearly pricing,” said Howell.
Howell is also expanding CUSA Swag, which was introduced by Taylor last year.
He’s allocating $35,000 under “CUSA Swag & Other” in the budget towards it, and hopes selling CUSA-branded merch at The Wing will increase profit.
It remains unclear whether CUSA broke even on the funds allocated towards swag last year, Howell said. The association made $5,016 in sales of swag, a fourth of the projected $20,000 in sales CUSA had expected.
Photo by Bailey Moreton
