You have probably noticed how bare the shelves of the newly renovated C-store, now called Bear Necessities, are. This truly puts the “bare” in Bear Necessities.
No matter the day or time you head to the shop, it is only half-stocked at best or almost empty at worst. The store has very limited options to begin with, typically with only a few select candy bars, and multiple shelves that sit completely unutilized underneath the already sparse display.
The drink fridge is always hit or miss; if you are lucky, there will be a plethora of different Pepsi varieties to choose from, accompanied by a modest selection of Gatorade, iced tea, and Rockstar. If not, there are only two other kinds of soda and the overpriced water. This is all dependent on the fridge being stocked, which is unfortunately rare. This leaves only the aforementioned overpriced water.
Fear not, the pasta and pasta sauce shelf is teeming with product, but this might be directly correlated to the lack of access students have to stoves to boil the pasta.
The frozen section is yet another department that is either completely empty or fully stocked, though the likelihood of this section being stocked is higher than that of the drink section. To the right of the ice cream, there may or not be an iced coffee machine; the machine has had a sign reading “coming soon” since the store was reopened.
It is also important to remember the store was opened weeks behind schedule. The savory snacks are surprisingly reliably stocked, as are the medicinal and household items. The ready-made section is reliably well-stocked, but the selection pales in comparison to last year’s offerings.
All this is to say that too much money was sunk into the overhaul for there to be fewer options, higher prices, and unreliable stock. The only benefit is that the store is open 24 hours, which compensates for all the other dining options closing significantly earlier than many other college dining options. Additionally, the store has become an Amazon Storefront that utilizes Grubhub to work, and I find it is more convenient when it works. There have been many times when the Grubhub app does not work and you are thus unable to enter the store at all.
While my opinions of Bear Necessities are negative, I want to be proven wrong. I want to see a fully stocked store with diverse options, but as it stands now this is just a dream and our reality is a “bearbones” store.