The following article was written for a journalism class.
By Archita Aggarwal
LEXINGTON, Va. — Student workers at Washington and Lee University’s bookstore were out of work despite the busy weekend on campus.
The university hosted more than 100 prospective Johnson Scholars on campus, however, the store recorded only 10 visiting student transactions on Sunday. None had purchased university merchandise; all bought energy and soft drinks.
“It was very quiet today,” said Micheal Cruz, store assistant, “this was definitely unexpected.”
Unlike usual weekends, the university store hired an extra student worker for the day in anticipation of an influx of visiting students. The store also opened up all three of its registers for quick checkouts, however, with a low volume of customers, only one of the registers was being used.
“Usually during events like Parents Weekend and Alumni Weekend we are packed, but today I have only billed two customers and both were W&L students,” said Devanshi Mehta, student worker.
Cruz believes that the Marketplace being closed for renovations is a deterrent to the bookstore.
“Visitors would come to the store on their way to the Marketplace. Now that it is closed, people don’t come to this area,” said Cruz.
The store closed with less than 40 transactions on the first day of the Johnson Weekend. No one used the special Johnson discount coupon the bookstore was offering to all visiting students.
Cruz said students must be busy exploring the university for academic purposes and seemed to have a busy schedule today. He hopes they are able to visit the store tomorrow or at least once before they leave.