PRIYA SHARMA/Daily Bruin Students swarm the discount
tables during the Anti-Valentine’s Day Sale at Ackerman Union
Tuesday. The sale lasted one day and earned $465,000 for
ASUCLA.
By Eric Burlingham
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Associated Students of UCLA’s annual Anti-Valentine
Sale on Tuesday brought in $465,000 ““ down from last
year’s earnings of $569,000.
Patricia Eastman, executive director of ASUCLA, predicted the
UCLA Store would earn $500,000, half of what it earned during the
Halloween sale fall quarter.
“I’m delighted with the results, given the rain. I
consider this a big success,” Eastman said of Tuesday’s
sale.
Tuesday’s sale ran from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Items
were discounted 20 to 50 percent storewide, except for specialty
products such as textbooks, phone cards, computer hardware and
software.
Even students who usually don’t shop at the store because
they say prices are normally too high said they visited Ackerman
Union.
“I think they’re too high for merchandise, so I came
today to take advantage of the clearance,” said Juana
Carbajal, a second-year undeclared student.
While last year’s Valentine sale brought in more revenue
for ASUCLA, this year’s average daily revenue of the UCLA
Store is up by 2 percent.
Eastman attributes the lower revenue for this year’s sale
to the modified discount strategy employed. Some items were
discounted to a greater degree, thus bringing in less revenue.
The $465,000 earned from the sale almost quadrupled the average
daily revenue of $120,000.
ASUCLA store employees worked an estimated 500 additional hours
to meet the demands of the sale. While the increased presence of
security guards may have been the most apparent addition, there
were also more cashiers and other employees on the floor, Eastman
said.
“We expected four times or more the number of people in
the store than on a normal day,” she said.
ASUCLA usually earns a higher revenue during the fall sale
because students often purchase Christmas gifts. According to
Eastman, the Halloween and Anti-Valentine’s sales are not
comparable in either sale or volume of people.
Vinnie Dam, a second-year psychobiology student, took advantage
of the sale to buy multiple sweatshirts for family and friends.
“If you’re going to spend, why not give it to the
school? It makes people feel better to know you bought it at UCLA
instead of Target,” he said.
Though students often complain that prices in Ackerman are high,
some say they continue to shop there because of the variety of
merchandise available there.
“You’re not going to find this big a selection of
UCLA wardrobe anywhere else,” said Amy Tay, a third-year
business economics student.
Jon Sim, a second-year civil engineering student and employee of
Fast Track, said the department saw more business this time
compared to the Halloween sale.
Since most students purchase their first UCLA items fall
quarter, they use this sale to purchase other things.
“First-year students don’t buy as much apparel
during the second quarter because they normally buy during the
first sale in October. Basically, it’s second- and third-year
students buying apparel now,” Sim said.