Construction on Hsin Cafe, the Chinese restaurant located on the first floor of Taylor Place, was meant to be completed by August, but a conflict regarding Maroon and Gold Dollars will keep doors closed until at least October, said Ben Juang, owner of Hsin.
“We were thinking about using the (M&G) Dollars,” Juang said. “We negotiated for over a month, and it didn’t come through.”
It became clear around the end of July that Hsin would be unable to open at its scheduled date, Juang said.
Hsin offers a sit down restaurant with fresh, made-to-order food with options for take-away. Juang, who has food court restaurants in Colorado, said he is looking to test the market with a different kind of business.
Hsin offers different food than other restaurants on the Downtown campus, but Juang said not accepting M&G Dollars could hurt him.
Most student meal plans come with the M&G Dollars, and students may be reluctant to pay extra money, Juang said.
Juang was unable to negotiate a price that allowed him to accept M&G Dollars, because he said he would have lost money for every order paid for with the ASU payment.
Juang said he believes that the school will have difficulty drawing businesses to campus with their unreasonable requirements for M&G Dollars acceptance.
“The system does not benefit the outside vender; it doesn’t benefit the students,” Juang said.
Sophomore community assistant Nanette Hernandez said she would like to see more variety downtown.
“I think that down here there’s not a lot to choose from,” Hernandez said. “We don’t have a wide variety compared to Tempe.”
An additional problem Hernandez pointed out is the expense of some of the campus-run stores, more specifically the convenience store located on the first floor of Taylor Place.
“What I did last year was all access (plan),” Hernandez said. “No. 1, it was the cheapest, and No. 2, I could eat whenever I wanted.”
Juang said he is waiting for construction on his restaurant to be complete and is uncertain how his business has been affected.
“I just have to take my chance,” Juang said. “I think I have lost some business, but I have no choice.”
Contact the reporter at wdurso@asu.edu
