U. of Akron dorm opens shops on first floor

The clerks in the new stores are employed by the
university.

AKRON (AP) — One day last week, Rachael Tirpak and Kelley Valardo decided to go shopping.

They didn’t have to go far. In fact, they didn’t really even have to leave their University of Akron dormitory.

Tirpak and Valardo, both UA juniors, walked out of the door of their new dorm on East Exchange and Grant streets and into Grant Street Pier, one of four retail shops that have opened on the ground floor of the dorm.

“I like it. All you have to do is walk downstairs,” Tirpak said. “It’s also nice because you don’t have strangers coming into the dorms.”

The four shops — a home furnishings store, an art supply store, a bike shop and a combination ice cream and convenience store — have separate street-level entrances to maintain security for the 476-bed dormitory above.

The entrances are also a way to encourage other university students and the public to patronize the stores, said Ted Curtis, UA vice president of capital planning.

“It’s really open to the public, but designed for the convenience and pleasure of the students,” he said.

Tirpak and Valardo browsed around Grant Street Pier, which is the university’s version of a Pier 1 store, with assorted household decorations appropriate for a dormitory. But they were ultimately headed to the combination Dairy Queen/Orange Julius/Zee’s convenience store.

They had already found that store earlier in the week.

Because the stores are in a university building, they are run by UA with university employees.

Other stores

The other two stores that recently opened are Campus Palette, an art supply store, and Eddy’s Bike Shop.

Eddy’s owner Jim Ruggles said the university approached him to be a partner in the new retail units after students said they’d like to have a bike shop. It is the Stow company’s fifth location in Northeast Ohio. Ruggles supplies the inventory and trains the workers, who are employed by UA.

“I think it’s an opportunity to get more cycling into the Akron area and especially the university,” Ruggles said.

He said the store, which is small, will have some bicycles for sale, and accessories and minor repairs will be available on site. For major repairs, the bike will be taken to the Stow store and returned to the Akron location for pickup, he said.

Curtis said the new stores, all of which opened last week, are a good tuneup for other retail ventures the university plans. The university already runs some shops at the Student Union and Rob’s Cafe on campus, he said. The university plans to keep some of the shops open in the Quaker Square complex that the university is buying, Curtis said.

Having the university run some of the Quaker Square shops brings Curtis full circle. He was one of the original owners and developers of the Quaker Square complex in 1972 before he joined the university.

The new retail shops on Exchange Street also are a nice “kick-start” to other retail development, residential housing and the stadium planned down the street, Curtis said.

What’s planned

Ken Stapleton, executive director of the University Park Alliance, which is charged with revitalizing the 1,000-acre area in and around the university, said the new dorm and retail shops fit solidly into the shared vision for University Park.

“We think that will be a great positive thing for the neighborhood as we begin to change the bike culture,” he said.

Plans for upscale townhomes at Spicer Village are moving forward. Officials hope to break ground by October off Exchange Street at Brown and Power streets, he said.

“We’ll start to see some things go vertical. And there’s frankly a lot of other things behind the scenes that are moving that are going to follow very quickly,” Stapleton said.

One piece that remains a challenge is more retail outlets near the proposed Spicer Village complex. Retail has not come together as quickly as the alliance had anticipated, but work to bring mixed-use developments in that area continues, with Don Drumm Studio & Gallery as a key anchor, Stapleton said.