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Syracuse University Food Services is closing multiple campus cafes for the semester due to lower sales during the coronavirus pandemic.

Food Services decided to close the cafes, which include Falk Cafe, Slocum Cafe and the iCafe, after seeing a decreased number of customers this semester. Students who worked in the closed cafes and dining centers have been reassigned to other campus cafes and dining centers, as administrators strive to prevent employees from losing shifts or income due to the closures. 

Alexandra Rodriguez, a junior finance major, worked at Slocum Cafe in the School of Architecture. During one of her shifts, her manager told her that the cafe would be shutting down for at least the rest of the semester.

“My initial reaction was upset because I’ve been working at Slocum since freshman year,” Rodriguez said. “I am now a junior and am very comfortable with my position.” 

Business at the cafe had been “super slow” for the first few weeks of the semester, but the news that the cafe would close was still disappointing, Rodriguez said. 

Food Services worked with Rodriguez to schedule replacement shifts for her at similar times, she said. She now has a shift at Pages Cafe in Bird Library and another in the Eggers Hall cafe. 

While Rodriguez lost one shift and now works four fewer hours than she used to, it wouldn’t be too hard for her to pick up additional hours if she looked around, she said. 

Sue Bracy, director of Food Services, said the department reviews its on-campus operations in the early weeks of the semester to determine how to best use its resources. The review, which led to SU closing the cafes, includes analyzing customer counts and traffic at different cafes and dining facilities, Bracy said in an email. 

“We discovered that several cafes were seeing a low number of customers, which reflected a larger change in traffic to Food Services locations across campus,” Bracy said. 

Several cafes in academic buildings, such as Slocum, have seen less traffic because many students are taking classes online, Bracy said. Cafes and food courts near student housing have actually become more popular since students are staying close to their residence halls when getting meals, she said. 

SU also took the distance between dining centers and cafes into consideration when deciding which ones to keep open, she said. Food Services decided to shut down Falk Cafe because its proximity to Eggers Cafe, she said. 

Map of closed and open dining centers on campus. Abby Weiss | Asst. digital editor

Food Services has worked with staff in individual schools and colleges where cafes have closed as well as student employees to shift personnel to busier cafes and dining centers, such as Kimmel Food Court or Graham Dining Center. 

Rodriguez said transitioning into new roles at different cafes has been easy. Though each of SU’s cafes offers different menus and products, most share similar procedures, she said.

Food Services also reduced hours at some locations based on the data it collected at the beginning of the semester, Bracy said. Pages Cafe in Bird Library used to be open until 11 p.m. but now closes at 7 p.m. Pages also opens later on the weekends. 

Food.com, located in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, now closes at 3 p.m., four hours earlier than usual. 

Despite the changes, McKyle Zschoche, a junior health and exercise science major, said he works the same number of hours as he did before the closure. He worked in Falk Cafe before it closed.

“At first I was nervous because I was unsure of how fast I would be employed and if I would be at the same hours I was previously at,” Zschoche said. 

Zschoche said SU handled the situation quickly and professionally. 

Students who work in Food Services used to have the option to pick up shifts at multiple locations on campus. But because of the COVID-19 restrictions, most are only allowed to work at one location. Several student employees have said they are working fewer shifts because of the restrictions. 

Student employee supervisors, such as Zschoche, have the option to work at two locations on campus this semester. Before Falk cafe closed, he split his time between Falk and Life Sciences Cafe. 

In addition to on-campus cafes, SU has also closed other dining centers and catering venues. The Junction Snack Bar on the lower level of Graham Dining Center is closed for the semester. So is BBBistro, which is located in the basement of Brockway Hall. 

Inn Complete, a pub and restaurant managed by SU Catering Services, is also closed. The Goldstein Alumni and Faculty Center Restaurant is only providing take out.

SU reopened Otto’s Juice Bar, one of the university’s newest cafes, in the Barnes Center at The Arch after Gov. Andrew Cuomo authorized gyms and fitness centers to reopen. 

Food Services will continue to monitor traffic to each of its locations throughout the semester, and will adjust hours as needed, Bracy said.

Published on September 27, 2020 at 11:28 pm

Contact Sarah: scalessa@syr.edu | @sarahalessan