After struggling to maintain business, MacGregor Convenience closes
The closure does not come as much of a shock to residents, dorm president says
Mahi Shafiullah–The Tech
MacGregor Convenience, which was managed by 660 Corporation on a year-to-year contract with MIT, will not reopen this fall.
MacCon has struggled to “maintain a strong business operation for a few years now,” Naomi Carton, associate dean of residential life and dining, wrote to MacGregor residents Aug. 24.
“The sales decline can be attributed to factors including small store size that limited product mix, and growing preference among students for healthier food choices, which was reflected in the 2017 Food and Dining survey results,” Matthew Bauer, director of communications for the Division of Student Life, wrote in an email to The Tech Wednesday.
“I knew from talking to the cashiers that business wasn’t great,” Nina Lutz ’19, president of MacGregor, wrote in an email to The Tech Tuesday.
While the closure of the store will bring about a loss of a convenient resource that residents enjoyed, MacCon isn’t “a necessary and fundamental component of daily life of MacGregor,” Lutz wrote.
“The convenience store was a great thing to have, but we have a lot more to offer,” Lutz wrote citing great views, guaranteed singles, and the “ability to have your own space but still be part of a strong, family like culture in an entry.”
“Overall people are kind of disappointed, but no one has reached out to me or exec (at least via email) with very strong feelings. I think a lot of residents knew this was probably going to happen eventually,” Lutz wrote.
This fall, a group of MacGregor residents will work with ResLife in a committee to determine what the now-empty space on the first floor of the dorm will be used for. In the past, during “general renovations” committee meetings, residents have indicated interest in having a country kitchen or additional recreational spaces, Lutz wrote.
660 Corporation, which also operates LaVerde’s, will be “focusing its efforts on LaVerde’s, undertaking a renovation over IAP to emphasize more fresh and healthy foods,” Bauer wrote.