Students Stores celebrates 100 years with 100 sales

2015 marks the 100th anniversary of UNC Student Stores, and to celebrate, Student Stores has been offering a different sale each day since the beginning of September and will offer 100 sales total.

100th birthday

Student Stores started off its birthday celebration by offering 25 percent off T-shirts and free birthday cake in the Pit.

“That really went over well,” said John Gorsuch, director of Student Stores.

Gorsuch said Student Stores gave away 1,000 pieces of cake in only 45 minutes.

“That was the most fun, and we had a lot of cake,” he said.

Hit sales

Gorsuch said some of the most popular sales were on Christmas ornaments, ceramic mugs and carry bags.

“Our goal was to really have very desirable items to be featured on these different days of the 100-years sale," he said. "It’s really some nice stuff that students, faculty and staff would really want and like.”

Ishan Shah, a first-year, bought a sweatshirt from Student Stores when it was on sale for $15.

“I’ve been a lot more intrigued to come buy stuff when discounts are like 25 percent off or whatever,” Shah said.

Not quite flops

Gorsuch said while none of the 100-year sales have been complete failures, some sales are less profitable than others.

“We’ve had a few not exciting ones, but pretty good ones. I wouldn’t call any of them downright flops yet,” he said.

He said recent sales on Panasonic headphones and blankets haven’t done as well as others.

Room for improvement

Student Stores employee Serena Terry said she thinks the sales are doing well so far, but could be advertised better.

“Some … people only see (the sales) when they get here, the day of, or if they see it on Facebook or word of mouth, so I think we can do a better job advertising (sales),” Terry said.

Increased visibility

Student Stores has celebrated its 100th anniversary in the midst of talks about leasing the stores to Follett, a private company that owns more than a thousand student stores nationwide. Gorsuch said he thinks both the 100-year anniversary and the threat of privatization have brought attention to Student Stores.

“It's kind of like we’re already making a big deal out of being 100 years, we’ve been planning that for a year in advance," Gorsuch said. "And then when the other news came upon, it just made us more visible.”

Biggest sale of the year

Gorsuch said Student Stores’ biggest sale of the year — the Mammoth Monday Sale — will be on November 30th. This will be the 50th sale in the series of 100.

“It’ll be the best discount of the year on a lot of stuff,” he said.

Nov. 30 also marks Gorsuch's last day of work. He announced his retirement to staff members in his division on Thursday.

The sale will be the last of the fall semester; the 100 sales will resume at the beginning of the spring semester.

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