The new Student Center on the campus of Eastern Michigan University has been a big hit with diners, posting an 80% sales increase over the previous venues performance in its first two months

FM Staff

The new Student Center on the campus of Eastern Michigan University has been a big hit with diners, reports the Ann Arbor Business Review. The new 180,000-sq.ft. facility, which opened in November, is surpassing EMU’s traditional McKenny Union as a center of campus social activities, with a food sales increase of 80 percent in its first 60 days compared to the same time period for McKenny during the last academic year, according to EMU Dining Services. The three-story Student Center boasts a food court on its first floor seating for 450, and units of Wendy’s, Subway, Panda Express, Taco Bell/KFC, Sbarro’s, and Freshens, along with a dessert bar, a convenience store, bank, copy center, EMU ID Card Office, computer store, ticket office and a game room. More residence hall students are eating at the new student center than at McKenny, the Review reporte, with 53 percent of first 60 day sales coming from resident students with meal plans, compared with 30 percent at McKenny. Meanwhile, non-meal plan dining sales have increased 28 percent. The new student center cost slightly more than $40 million and McKenny is now undergoing a renovation expected to cost under $5 million.