Over 4 days in September in Auckland almost 100 abstracts were presented by TEFMA and TEMC members on burning issues and opportunities facing the management of higher education in the Pan Pac Region in coming years.

Always thought provoking and inspiring, it was a great time for B&P to listen and consider how these types of major changes will impact on campus retail in the future, so here is our take on 3 things we will be recommending on future campus retail masterplans:

1. STRATEGIC USE OF POP-UPS

The average university campus is at the mercy of scheduling and timetables. During peak semester times it could be thriving and filled with students and staff. During term breaks and weekends it can be eerily quiet. Then there’s special events such as guest lectures, O-Week and graduation that can put added pressure on existing facilities and retail.

With this constant flux, it may be pertinent to start using the strategies we apply for Airports, Sports Stadiums and Theme Parks in retailing for “peaks”. Our strategy in these circumstances is never to build “fixed” retail for the peak times but to build to the “average day” and then supplement the fixed offer with mobile, pop up and extension facilities on peak days.

Image by thefoodpornographer.com

10 years ago we would recommend this strategy for the planning of the on campus book store. Why build a book store to cope with demand in week one and two of semester and then have it half-filled with stock for the other 24 weeks a year? Better to build a book shop that looks full and brimming 26 weeks a year and drop in containers or pop up shops during O-Week filled with the highest demand text books. We have recommended similar strategies for dealing with “cap and gown” hire during graduation weeks.

If  you’re like most of our clients and dealing with the peak and lull nature of campus life, it could be time to start planning for the inclusion or expansion of non-fixed campus retail and assets. This might include pop up food counters, additional power and water in foyers for carts and trucks to plug into, temporary seating – anything that allows you to scale up or down quickly and efficiently. You may also want to read our recent article about food trucks on campus.

2. GREATER INFORMAL LEARNING AREAS ATTACHED TO RETAIL

If the FLIPPED CAMPUS is to be achieved, one of the key elements will be to provide a better than “home away from home” environment so students feel compelled to come to campus to study. What would make it “better than home”? Higher speed internet, access to collaborative tools, espresso coffee on tap, anything a student felt like eating at their disposal, face to face interaction with fellow students, desk room or a variety of seating?

It is extremely common in our reviews to find many campuses grossly under-supplied with climate controlled and weather protected seating for informal learning (let alone adjacent to the retail offering). At TEMC, Woods Bagot presented some benchmarks indicating around 1 informal learning seat for every 9 EFTSL enrolments.

In relation to food, B&P recommends each F&B tenancy needs at least 40 seats for eating customers (similar to the number provided in a food court) plus another 40 seats per tenancy for informal learning (as part of Woods Bagot’s total). Moving away from the refectory style of seating to a mixture of booths, laptop benches, semi enclosed rooms, group seating and soft low level seating within the main F&B centre of campus provides a compelling space for students to collaborate – better than home!

Add in a robust high street variety of F&B, plenty of power outlets, recharge stations and a student kitchen and the campus is ready to FLIP.

3. A SHIFT FROM FAST TO SLOWER FOOD OPTIONS

During The SCUP Perry Chapman Prize – Aligning the Strategic Plan with the Campus Masterplan, data was presented on projected enrolment growth by degree types globally indicating demand for undergraduate placements growing by only 10% while post graduate demand will grow by 30%.

Couple this with an increase in non-catered on campus accommodation and libraries changing from depositories for books to depositories of collaboration and study and it’s possible we will be looking at growing night time economies on campus where there is more demand for small bars, quick service restaurants and casual dining as opposed to the undergraduate day time dominated offers of cafes and fast food across most campuses today.

Image by Sweet Lime Photo

RETAIL MUST BE RE-PLANNED EVERY 5 YEARS

In the last 5 years, the growth in casual dining in Australia alone has topped 5% per annum while restaurants have gone backwards and fast food stagnated. With the campus population refreshed every 4-6 years it is imperative that the retail strategy is refreshed within this timeframe to remain current.

3 recent success stories showcased at TEMC that B&P want to congratulate on delivering innovative new retail spaces are;

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY: A truly outstanding new retail “hub” with fixed and mobile offers, student kitchens and a perfectly re-positioned bar provide an indisputable improvement to the number and amount of time students now spend on campus. Congratulations to David Banks, Juan Smith and Shane Jennings on a superbly crafted and executed project.

NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY: With a strategic campus plan that didn’t justify major investment in a key building identified in the retail masterplan as a location to deliver an improved campus retail experience, Joanne Humphris and Meri Butler have conceived a 5 year fitout and upgrade that still increases the number and type of retail on campus and adds a considerable amount of more user friendly seating to a heavily populated section of the campus currently under supplied. Well done!

USC: Our unsung hero award goes to The University of The Sunshine Coast, who were conspicuous in their absence of presenting a paper on the awesome job they have done on almost NO BUDGET to improve the range and variety of cuisines and operators on campus. Adopting our recommendations for a “localised” positioning, Iona Beauly, Mark Bradley and their team have done a great job of attracting the best in breed of local operators in coffee, health foods and Asian to expand their coastal empires to include USC in their portfolios to hugely benefit and raise satisfaction levels for both students and staff with the retail offerings at this youthful campus.