Hsin is weighing the option of continuing to allow students to purchase food with their M&G, owner Ben Juang said. To participate in the program, restaurants are required to pay Aramark, ASU’s dining company, a cut of their profit, which is 10 percent of every purchase in Hsin’s case.
Hsin began accepting M&G Fall semester of 2010 on a trial basis after opening at the Taylor Place complex in March 2010.
During that time period, Juang said Hsin has paid about $50 a day to Aramark, but said that number is subject to change. Deals are offered on a semester basis.
For the Fall 2011 semester, Aramark is asking for a higher fee, Juang said, and the owners of Hsin are deciding whether they will accept the deal, which could reach 15 percent or higher. Final fees will be set around May.
Aramark originally offered Hsin a cost of 20 percent in addition to $250 every week and a 1.1 percent processing fee, but the restaurant denied the offer, saying that they would lose money on every M&G transaction with that arrangement. After negotiations, the 10-percent deal was reached.
The M&G program has been very beneficial to the restaurant, Juang said, with around 50 to 60 M&G transactions every day. About 70 percent of Hsin’s business is ASU students.
“The reason we opened this store in this location, the primary reason, is to serve ASU students and faculty,” Juang said, adding that the restaurant is going to try to shift from focusing on students to other downtown residents because of their struggles with the M&G system.
“We’d never worked with university or other school systems,” Juang said. “We didn’t know we were getting into a trap.”
It is likely that Hsin will stick with the M&G program, Juang said, but if it does, there could be changes.
“I tell you, the student is not going to benefit from (Aramark raising fees),” he said. “If I decide to (accept a higher M&G fee from Aramark), that will raise the price accordingly and everyone will hurt.”
El Portal Mexican Grill, located adjacent to Cronkite on the corner of Central Avenue and Fillmore, also opened in its current location to cater mostly to ASU, owner Mary Rose Wilcox said. The M&G program has allowed El Portal to do a better job of serving the downtown population, Wilcox said.
The restaurant began accepting M&G in August 2010.
After trying out the policy and liking the results, El Portal has decided to go forward with a long-term contract.
“We do have fees associated with it, so we accept that the convenience of the card for the students and the staff is a tremendous plus for our business,” she said. “Signing up and agreeing to pay the fee is just a cost of doing business, but in this case it’s a positive one for us.”
El Portal Manager Byron Rhymes said about 30 percent of the restaurant’s earnings come from M&G, but Wilcox would not comment on financial specifics of their deal with Aramark or whether any changes were suggested.
Some students expressed disappointment at the lack of variety of restaurants that accept M&G near the Downtown campus.
“Being a student at the Downtown campus, I’m kind of at a disadvantage with my M&G money because the choices that we have are very limited,” said Anthony Zarsky, a political science freshman and resident of Taylor Place.
Zarsky said he uses M&G mostly by ordering Domino’s Pizza.
“I feel like they overcharge the students at places like the Chinese restaurant, Hsin, because they know we don’t have that many opportunities to buy food as Downtown students,” Zarsky said. “I feel like they’re abusing the system that we have because it’s so young.”
Criminal justice freshman Diana Pardo, who has an all-M&G meal plan, said she also feels there is little variety downtown and said she believes every restaurant around campus from the A&E Building to Mercado should accept it.
More could be done to support these businesses, Pardo said. ASU and Aramark “should help support them so that way maybe it would encourage more vendors to accept M&G.”
Hsin owner Juang voiced the same concern.
“One of the reasons that (Phoenix) wanted the university here in Downtown (was) to help develop the downtown area,” he said. “But I think ASU didn’t do enough to secure the small business here, especially in this difficult economic year.”
Aramark could not be reached for comment.
Contact the reporter at vpelham@asu.edu
