The long-awaited return of the Buck-I-Mart is finally here.
Headed up by business entrepreneur, Isaac Lieber, and his wife Judy, the new management is planning to reopen the store by Aug. 12.
“When the Buck-I-Mart closed there was an outpouring of response from customers,” said Helen DeSantis, assistant vice president for business operations. “So the thing I feel really good about is we were able to find someone to lease the space who can continue to run the convenience store.”
Currently the owner of another sales-oriented business, Sammy’s Bagels, Lieber said the Buck-I-Mart will be a separate enterprise from his other business.
“Obviously we’re going to carry bagels at the Buck-I-Mart, but it’s not going to be a bagel store by any stretch of the imagination. It really has nothing to do with Sammy’s Bagels other we own both, and we’re going to continue to sell Sammy’s brand bagels here,” Lieber said.
After nearly 10 years, Sammy’s Bagels is a well-known name at Ohio State.
“The Buck-I-Mart has carried our bagels since they opened here, and before that when they were at the old Barnes and Noble location,” Lieber said. “Oxley’s carries our bagels now, as well.”
Aside from bagels, Lieber plans to revamp the entire image of the Buck-I-Mart by bringing in an abundance of new items.
“Our intent is to change the product mix so the focus is more on fresh products in conjunction with convenience items. In other words, everything the Buck-I-Mart used to carry, we will continue to carry with some exceptions,” Lieber said.
One of those exceptions includes focusing on more fresh food. Other additions include fresh squeezed fruit drinks, blended fruit smoothies, prepackaged sandwiches and salads, hot and cold specialty coffee drinks, along with select pastry items like bagels and muffins baked daily.
“A lot of the other convenience stores that I’ve visited around here are fairly small and sell just convenience-type items. They don’t really offer fresh products,” Lieber said. “We want this place to have not as sterile a feel as most other convenience stores have.”
While the store was owned by the university, the former management of the Buck-I-Mart had accrued several thousand dollars of debt since opening its current location four years ago, mostly because of fewer customers coming to the store over time.
“I think the main thing we’re focusing on is finding out what the students want and giving it to them at a fair price,” Lieber said. “After we’re opened for awhile, we plan to do a survey on what students want to see in the store that they can’t find already – maybe giving out free bagels to everyone who fills out a survey, even.”
Patrons at Oxley’s Cafe next door to the Buck-I-Mart are excited about the prospect of the convenience store offering more fresh products and a wider and healthier food selection.
“I come to Oxley’s for lunch sometimes because I know that I’m going to get a fresh-made sandwich or something,” said Justin Boyer, a junior in engineering. “The lines are always so long here though. If I can go next door and get the same thing but get out in five minutes, then I will definitely go there instead sometimes.”
Lieber does not think offering more fresh foods will have a negative effect on Oxley’s business.
“There’s a difference. Oxley’s is a sit-down place, this is for more of a quick bite, but that doesn’t mean when you get a quick bite it should taste bad. It can still be good,” Lieber said.
