The copy machines are silent, and the printers have gone away; Saint Louis University’s Kinko’s is no more. The FedEx-owned franchise vacated its outlet on the first floor of the Busch Student Center this summer, and the space it occupied remains empty as the new school year begins. Administrators have not decided what to do with the prime piece of campus real estate.
Jeff Hovey, assistant director of procurement, said that Kinko’s chose to abandon its SLU location because it was failing to earn a profit.
“FedEx did an analysis [that] showed that many university stores weren’t making money. Month by month, Kinko’s was actually taking a loss here,” Hovey said.
The company announced its intention to leave SLU in the final weeks of the spring semester and finished moving out by the end of June.
Some students have bemoaned the loss of a quality copy-and-print business on SLU’s campus.
“I used Kinko’s a lot last year. It was convenient, and it was relatively cheap to make copies there in comparison with the library,” said Nam Nguyen, a junior studying mechanical engineering.
SLU has installed new copy machines in the BSC. It is also promoting Standard Register as an alternative printing service, even posting a flyer advertising it where Kinko’s once stood. The company, however, will not be opening up a brick-and-mortar outlet on SLU’s campus.
Chris Grabau, the BSC’s building manager, is currently investigating a number of possible uses for the space. He is seeking input from students and plans to conduct polls by e-mail for ideas.
“Whatever goes in that space, I want it to be a natural attraction for students, a place to see and be seen. It should be something students gravitate toward,” Grabau said.
He hopes that a new business will move into the space by the end of the fall semester.
Students have already begun speculating about potential new additions to the BSC. Nguyen suggested putting in a Blockbuster where students could rent movies and videogames for dorm entertainment, while others recommend a new dining establishment.
“I’d like there to be some other place to eat, one that was open all night and didn’t just close at 7 p.m.,” said Nikhi Anathula, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. “I eat dinner pretty late, and it’d be nice to have a place to eat then . something besides Subway.”
