Publix Closes, CAU Students, Community React
By: Anastasia Semien
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: News
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This particular location, which closed on Dec. 24, has been at the center of campus life since its inception, because for many students without cars, it was the only place where they could walk to get quality necessities.
Besides impacting the lives of employees, many students feel that their lives were impacted with the closing of this store- especially freshmen.
"I think that was very inconsiderate because most of the college students [here] use the Publix," said freshman accounting major Jessica Burnham.
Burnham also said she really does not have many options if ever she wants to buy groceries. "I hope that someone [would] say they [are] going to the store or Wal-Mart and [ask] do I want to go," she said.
Kasey Dawson, a freshman psychology major, shared the same sentiments. "I'm really angry," she said. "It's where you [could] get produce and everything." Dawson said that she is now forced to eat only cafeteria food and that the only thing that makes her situation better is that she has family here.
Freshman business administration/marketing major Diamond Cornelison said that she "hates" that Publix closed and is hoping that another grocery store will replace it.
"When I needed something quick, that was the place to run to," she said. "But since it's closed now and they most likely won't open it back up, I'm hoping they put another grocery store there."
Two entrepreneurial CAU seniors are a ray of hope for these inconvenienced freshmen.
Christopher James, an accounting major, and Edmund Evans, a business management major are providing a shuttle service to the Wal-Mart on Howell Mill Road. For only $10 students will get an hour to satisfy all of their shopping needs. If their friends want to tag along, up to three more can fit and it will be an additional $5 per person.
James said that they started this service because they were once in the shoes of the freshmen and know how Publix was an integral part of campus life. "That was the only spot [where] we could get things conveniently," he said.
