Surprisingly, I found that many dorm residents do not even grocery shop for themselves. Many told me that their parents traveled from far distances two to three times a month to get them their groceries.

Grocery shopping can be a tedious task for those living on campus. Most Sandburg and RiverView residents don’t have vehicles, so when they decide to go for a grocery purchase many are caught practicing balancing acts with their bags and milk as they take the bus ride back. On top of that, the blustery wintry conditions the past couple of weeks have forced many Sandburg residents that I talked with to purchase their goodies at the the Emporium.

Going forward with this grocery theme, I set out to find out where dorm residents are primarily shopping for their groceries. I randomly polled 50 dorm residents and asked them where they shopped. My results were very staggering in that 40 of the 50 students I polled said they shopped at the Pick ‘n Save on Oakland Avenue.

When I contacted Pick ‘n Save headquarters to see why they believed most college students were shopping at this location I was not able to find someone to give me a response. I did however ask many of the students I polled why they chose Pick ‘n Save and most of them told me that of the low prices, close location and brand name food and drinks they carried were the determining factor.

Surprisingly, I found that many dorm residents do not even grocery shop for themselves. Many told me that their parents traveled from far distances two to three times a month to get them their groceries. Obviously, I did not include these lucky kids in my poll.

Three students I polled said that they shopped at Trader Joe’s, a grocery store at Bayshore Mall in Glendale. When I called Trader Joe’s to see what their thoughts were on the poll an associate manager told me she could not comment but thanked me for the information. Trader Joe’s, owned by Aldi, features a variety of low-cost organic, preservative-free foods at low prices. Though the grocery trip is quite a jaunt for residents, the 15 city bus can take them from the dorms to this location and back.

Whole Foods, on North Avenue., did not receive any votes in my poll. When I called to ask Autumn Faughn, Marketing Director of Whole Foods, what she thought of the results she told me that, “Whole Foods does everything it can to accommodate UWM students shopping at our store.”

She also informed me that every Wednesday there is a $7.99 pizza deal and unlimited pasta bowl at their deli section on Thursdays for $5.99 per person. These deals can be attained by taking the 30 bus from Sandburg to the North Avenue stop.

RiverView residents even have greater accessibility of shopping at Whole Foods by getting on the 21 bus that takes them straight down North to its location off Prospect Avenue.

Many students that participated in my poll told me that they shop in groups so that they all are able to help each other out in juggling their grocery bags on the bus ride back. A few students told me that they have had to call for cab rides after buying large grocery purchases.

All in all, these results tell me that Pick ‘n Save is the hot spot for dorm residents shopping for groceries. Perhaps other grocery store employees in Milwaukee will read this article and wonder if they can step it up to accommodate residents on campus grocery shopping experience. We can only hope.

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