We live in a world of numbers. “We’re No. 1!” The volleyball team placed No. 1 in the nation. The football team was No. 1 in the MIAC for the third straight year and finished No. 2 nationally. The men’s basketball team is ranked No. 2 in the nation. Enrollment is 10,316, with 6,336 undergraduate and 3,980 graduate students. Here’s a new number – on the University of St. Thomas campus in St. Paul, the Anderson Student Center is 1 year old.
But who’s counting, you ask?
Folks who work in the Anderson Student Center are. Did you know that in the first year of the ASC, 421 posters were displayed in the atrium, The Loft sold 6,008 smoothies, and the Bowling center rented 1,680 pairs of shoes? In addition, 5,728 meetings and 1,766 events – in Bowling, Dance, James B. Woulfe Alumni Hall, Scooter's, Campus Way and Monahan Plaza – were held in the ASC's first year?
In case those numbers haven’t given you enough food for thought, consider the meals and customers served in the past year at various Anderson Student Center venues:
- The View: 453,907 meals served
- T’s: 177,206 customers served
- Scooter’s: 69,200 customers served
- Summit Marketplace: 185,641 customers served
- The Loft: 6,008 smoothies
- The Loft: 10,442 coffees
(Food for Thought on the Minneapolis campus, by the way, has served 139,744 customers in the past year.)
Other food items, especially french fries and pizza, also were big-sellers in the student center. By the numbers:
T’s
- Breakfast sandwiches: 8,414
- Chipotle chicken sandwiches: 8,254
- French fries: 12,550 orders
Scooter’s
- Pizzas: 7,194
Summit Marketplace
- Candy: 8,794
- Naked juice: 5,000
You also can do the math at the Tommie Shop. The store sold 3,248 of its best-selling T-shirt – a two-line straight T-shirt made in the United States and available in purple, white or oxford gray, and screened-printed University of St. Thomas across the front.
The Tommie Shop also reports these top sellers:
- Tackle twill hoodies: 1,345
- Lanyards: 1,235
- St. Thomas Christmas ball ornaments: 296
- Nike Caps: 316
- Pottery mugs: 398
- Volleyball national championship T-shirts: 196
- Football hoodies: 172
- Football playoff T-shirts: 425
And 11,000 big, purple plastic Tommie bags to carry it all.
“The Tommie Shop’s first year has been just amazing with the amount of traffic we are seeing … location, location, location!” noted Colleen Utecht. “The return of alumni checking out the new building and the success of all the winning sports teams sure helped the apparel sales without a doubt. Last summer we also saw a high volume of sales from the summer sport camp attendees.”
Utecht also reported that the Tommie Shop had a record-number-sales day for Family Weekend, serving 860 customers, as well as at homecoming, serving 597 customers; in addition, she reports record-breaking sales for freshman orientation groups.
“They rocked their purple pride,” Utecht said.
