Bear Necessities Now Open 24 Hours

Outside of Bear Necessities, Emily Garver

Bear Necessities, the new on-campus convenience store at Belmont University, began its transition to 24/7 business hours Tuesday after an initial delay.

The reason for the delay in making the switch to 24 hours was to work out logistical issues, specifically with delivery and technology, said Kelli Davis, the director of auxiliary services technology and business analytics.

“We opened five new concepts at the beginning of the school year,” Davis said. “We needed to work out some of the kinks.”

The store, which has two locations on campus, saw the location in Wiseman Hall switch to 24 hours first, making it the first Belmont dining location to stay open past 10 p.m.

“I think it’s been needing it for a while,” said Emma Ray, a Belmont student.

The second location in the Barbara Massey Rogers Center is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 

The second Bear Necessities location has no set timeline for switching to 24/7, mainly due to the infrastructure of the space the store is located in, said Davis.

The location, situated in the old Corner Court space, needs additional funds to transition to 24/7, something Davis is working on a proposal for, she said.

“We are still planning to take both of these locations to 24-hour service,” Davis said.

The plan to make both locations 24/7 is evident in the safety features implemented: ID card scanners and security cameras, both of which exist to make sure the locations are operating well late at night with the store’s self-checkout format.

“Those concepts, they’re autonomous,” said Davis. “We need a way to check in on them and make sure that they’re running smoothly.”

Despite the progress being made, the lack of late-night dining options on campus has been a source of frustration among students.

“It kind of sucks that stuff isn’t open because the caf isn’t open as late this semester,” said Caleb Tolberg, a Belmont student.

The introduction of a 24-hour concept would be appreciated by Tolberg, who is up until 2 a.m. “regularly,” he said.

“I think it would be great,” he said.

The introduction of a 24-hour concept on-campus could also make students safer by keeping dining centralized, Ray said.

“It would be less people ordering food on DoorDash and then also less people walking to get food,” she said.

Davis also thinks it would be a good idea to keep students on campus late at night, but mainly so that students “choose to keep their money on campus,” she said.

“I hope that it will truly impact what students leave campus for,” Davis said.

Davis also understands students’ frustration for what seems like a “broken promise,” but she also acknowledges that bringing a 24/7 concept to campus is something she’s been working on with others, she said.

“This is obviously something we’ve been working really hard to bring to campus for a very long time, but this is a new concept,” Davis said.

Bear Necessities is open later than any other on-campus dining location has been, which is “a value added to campus,” Davis said.

“I just really wanted this to feel convenient, accessible and truly something that enhances the student experience,” she said.

This addition to campus life was initially advertised to the student body to happen Monday, but was delayed an extra day.

“We will continue to work towards making this a 24/7 concept,” she said. “We’re really excited about doing that for students.”

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This article was written by Rachel Suggs