The most sold item in quantity at the U-Store is a banana

Originally started as a student business in 1890 and officially established as a campus cooperative in 1905, the Princeton University Store (U-Store) is an iconic must-see location for the campus community and an important retail outlet for showcasing value Princeton’s identity, perhaps epitomized by its best-selling gift, the Einstein Tiger plush toy.

Operating from two main locations – one on campus near Blair Arch and another on Nassau Street – each address serves distinct purposes. The Nassau Street location focuses primarily on clothing and accessories, while the campus location offers a wider range of merchandise, including a smaller clothing set, stationery like notebooks and folders , as well as groceries and snacks. The Daily Princetonian analyzed U-Store sales data at both locations from the first quarter of the fiscal calendar, spanning June 30 through September 28, 2024.

The top three departments contributing the most to total U-Store sales this quarter were men’s clothing, grocery and women’s clothing, and they accounted for 26 percent, 16.9 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively. hundred of total sales.

When deciding which new items to market, the U-Store develops personas for different customer groups, namely students, alumni, visitors and the community at large, to define their tastes and preferences. They keep up with market developments, whether by talking with suppliers and manufacturers or trying out products that companies want to try with them, to better understand the Princeton community.

“We’re looking at how the consumer responds to things that may be more what we call traditional in their design, look and feel,” said June Archer ’85, president and CEO of U-Store, in an interview with the “Prince”. “And then we also want to bring in things that are more, would we say, trend-based or contemporary because we have a lot of young people here and they’re looking for a modern style.”

“We have to be financially solvent,” she said. “As much as we want to do all the fun things, we need to be able to sustain our business so we can provide services to our members. »

While the U-Store is constantly working to introduce new products to the public, Archer recognizes a limitation, as with any other business.

“We’re constantly trying to make sure that students who are on campus every day feel like it’s a destination that meets their needs,” Archer said. “And alumni, when they come to visit us, we want to make sure they are able to express themselves.”

U-Store items are categorized into two main divisions: Insignia and Campus. The Insignia division focuses on Princeton branded products and includes men’s clothing, women’s clothing, children’s clothing, accessories and gifts. The Accessories category includes items like tote bags, magnets, and umbrellas, and the Gifts category includes novelty items like stuffed tigers and mugs. The Campus division provides convenience and general items, grocery includes food and beverages, and general merchandise includes dorm essentials and everyday items like cleaning supplies.

The three best-selling items in terms of quantity during this quarter all came from the Campus division, particularly the Grocery department, with Bananas leading the sales with 2,134 units sold, followed by Smart Water Sport (700 ml) with 1,180 units sold and Smart Water (1 L) with 968 sold.

“If you look at it on a unit basis, we would definitely say that students are where we see so much activity because they are in the campus store buying bananas, mango slices and other consumable products,” Archer said.

The quantity of clothing sold was relatively small compared to items in other departments, as the ten best-selling items in the men’s and women’s clothing categories only sold between 40 and 83 units each. However, each of these top ten items generated over $2,100 in retail sales. This increase in revenue came from the higher price of clothing, which offset the decline in sales volume.

Zhennan Zhao ’28 said the U-Store is an integral part of residence hall life at Princeton.

“(The U-Store) provides a lot of necessities that students need: food, clothing, basic items that people need in their rooms,” Zhao said.

The convenience of the U-Store has been cited as a possible reason why the best-selling items are in the grocery section.

“You could buy something on Amazon and have it shipped, and it would probably be cheaper, but shipping and processing takes time,” Zhao said. “The U-Store is relatively close.”

“I think it makes a lot of sense given people’s desire to represent their school and the price of the products,” Zhao said. “So when you have, let’s be honest, very expensive products and high demand, it makes sense that the majority is Insignia.”

“Our strong sales are definitely going to build the alumni base because they’re buying products at a higher price point, and that’s clothing and accessories,” Archer said.

When it comes to the total quantity of the ten best-selling items by department, groceries tops the list with 9,037 items, followed by gifts with 5,586 items and accessories with 4,091 items. This was a little different from the total retail sales of the top 10 best-selling items by department, as gifts came in first at $56,327.71, followed by accessories at $44,516.21 and general merchandise at 38 $539.03.

The time of year impacts which items sell the most, as evidenced by which General Merchandise department items topped the list last quarter: Top 3 Most Popular Items from a Viewpoint of retail were the door mirror and pillow made of 100% polyester fiber. Fill and the 2024-2025 Princeton Planner with sales of $8,069.60, $4,920.01 and $3,927.61, respectively.

“The General Merchandise section for this particular term, because it has move-in data and (students) are just arriving at school and getting settled in, wardrobe items will always be the sold more,” Archer said.

Much of the U-Store’s operations focus on working with the University on trademark licensing, as they need approval to use intellectual property.

“(The University’s trademark licensing team is) responsible for approving everything or not,” Archer said. “So while we certainly work with brand licensers to provide them with our thoughts, our ideas and our desires to do anything, there is a group of professionals who are ultimately responsible for maintaining the integrity trademarks and intellectual property.”

Princeton’s school spirit is ultimately what drives the U-Store’s business model, as regalia remains the core part of the U-Store’s business, accounting for 69.3 percent of total sales this quarter, while the campus division accounted for the remaining 30.7 percent.

“There is an emotion unique to Princeton, and we are very fortunate. I mean, we wouldn’t have the business that we have and we wouldn’t be able to grow it if we didn’t have that spirit. And that’s what the university’s gift to us is,” Archer said.

Andy Lau is a data editor for the “Prince”.

Hellen Luo is a data editor for the “Prince”.

Please send any corrections to corrections(at)dailyprincetonian.com.