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Sunday, August 25, 1996

Retail director claims student involvement not undersold with new titleBy Michael Angell

Summer Bruin Staff

"What's in a name?" asks Shakespeare's Juliet.

How about thousands of dollars in revenue from shoppers attracted by a catchy name, says Carol Anne Smart, director of retail services for the students' association (ASUCLA).

But what about the elimination of "Students" from the new retail store in Ackerman Union, asks ASUCLA Board of Directors student member James Hagar.

Not that students will not be allowed into the new retail store, but some claim that students should not think of it as solely theirs any longer.

ASUCLA Retail Operations has formally adopted a new name for Ackerman Union's retail store, but some students are concerned that the name change means losing power over enterprises that have traditionally been their domain.

Come September, the former "ASUCLA Students' Store" will be rechristened "The UCLA Store." Smart said that the new name gives the store a hip, current image.

The store has been toying with the new name over the last nine months. Ads run in the Daily Bruin have borne "The UCLA Store" logo. Smart said that customers have been giving the new name a thumbs up.

"The primary reason for the new name was to have a short, clear and concise name," Smart said. "A name that makes the most of our primary asset ­ our relationship with UCLA."

In an era of snappy retail names, Smart is counting on the streamlined moniker to draw in customers, especially from off-campus. According to one association memo, the old name was confusing because many people were not familiar with what the "AS" stood for. Besides, Smart said, the old name was "long, stodgy-sounding, difficult to pronounce without hissing, and confusing to many of our customer groups."

The ASUCLA marketing department came up with the new name about a year ago, following the lead of the "Gap", "The Limited" and even UCLA's own business school, which uses " The Anderson School" instead of the more weighty "Anderson Graduate School of Management." Such names, Smart asserts, provide a clear identity to consumers.

However, the new name has not been warmly received by all. Some students, including Hagar, felt the name change was symbolic of the change of the students' association from being largely student-run to being run by professionals.

"When you take Associated Students out of the name, that's a big step," Hagar said. "I need to know a lot more about the reasoning behind it. We had concerns that (the new name) goes away from what we want to do as students, serving on the Board of Directors."

For much of its 77-year history, students have run many of the association's operations. Yet increasingly, professional accountants, managers and employees have been recruited to help the organization out of a record deficit.

But officials said that students should not fret too much because they still receive some recognition, albeit in a much smaller font size. Below the new logo, a line reads: "An Enterprise of the Associated Students." This tagline will appear on the store's stationery, invoices and the new store's doors once they open this fall. Two large exterior signs over the entrances will just have what Smart likes to call "the marketing handle."

New association Executive Director Patricia Eastman came up with the tagline. On her first day on the job, Eastman defused potential conflict between students and the Board of Directors by suggesting that students still be acknowledged in the new name.

"We have one of the few student-run associations in the U.S. and we also have the most successful," Eastman said. "(The students) have a right to be proud of that and I don't want to lose that."