Driving Beverage Sales Award

Jonah's
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

Opened: January 2010

Gross Sales/Day: $1,950 (dining plan)/$1,686 (cash/credit)

Jonah's is located in the Jonah L. Larrick Student Center on Virginia Commonwealth's MCV (Medical College of Virginia) campus, which also houses a fitness center with 25-meter lap pool and four state-of-the-art conference rooms that generate plenty of traffic, especially of older students and medical professionals. In addition, the store sits directly across the street from university housing with some 500 undergraduates on meal plans.

To serve such an eclectic customer base, beverages are a major part of the product mix, along with typical high-volume categories like candy and frozen meals that are both gourmet- and healthy-style as well as budget friendly.

There is also a strong foodservice component, with bakery, deli, pizza/pasta, salad bar, grill, rotisserie and omelet stations along with a grab-and-go case. The most prominent design element of the $5.2 million, 7,405-sq.ft. space is a large skylight in the center of the building that brings in plenty of natural light.