Businesses in Westwood offer UCLA discounts

Many Westwood businesses use discounts to lure students in, but while some students are bargain hunters who take advantage of great deals, some students fail to notice the offers available to them.

Discounts available to students in Westwood are an effective way for many students to save money when purchasing equipment or dining out, said Georgia Hamren, a second-year international development studies student.

Ami Sushi, Bel Air Camera, Damon & Pythias Food For the Gods and Subway are just a few of the Westwood businesses that offer discounts for UCLA students.

“I definitely take advantage of the student discounts in Westwood,” Hamren said. “I eat at Damon & Pythias and Ami Sushi all the time, and I always show my BruinCard.”

Damon & Pythias offers a 10-percent discount for UCLA students who show their BruinCard. Ami Sushi offers 15 percent. Bel Air Camera offers 25 percent off camera rentals and 30 percent off all camera bags.

The discounts are intended to foster the relationship between the UCLA campus and Westwood stores, said Rika Roshanian, a manager of Bel Air Camera in Westwood.

“We’re close to UCLA,” he said. “It’s a big community and we enjoy a long-standing relationship with the university. And a lot of (UCLA) departments shop here, so we like to offer discounts to help them out.”

The discounts are not really meant to compete with other stores, especially since Bel Air Camera is the only big camera store in Westwood, Roshanian said.

Competition is not a focus as long as the businesses are doing well, he said. And for Bel Air Camera, profits are fairly stable throughout the year with the profit margin rising each year.

UCLA students requested discounts years ago, said Adran Meneses, manager of Subway’s Westwood branch.

And rather than put up a fight against the largest consumer demographic in Westwood – students – Subway decided to give students what they wanted, he said.

But no matter how many discounts are offered in the village, the discounts are only useful if Bruins know about them, and many remain unaware of the bargains available for them.

Student bargains in Westwood are poorly advertised, said Joslyn Gober, a second-year physical science student.

Gober said she knew no stores that offer discounts in Westwood. She said students like her, who live on campus, may not hear about the deals because they do not get the chance to go into Westwood as often.

The Westwood restaurants don’t do a very good job of making (the discounts) apparent, Hamren said. All students want to save money, she said, so better advertisement could lead to more students’ recognition of the bargains.

Many schools have a Web site documenting all of the local shops that offer deals for students, Hamren said, an option she recommended for UCLA to create more awareness of the bargains available to students.

But the stores may not want to advertise the discounts they offer if they can lure students to pay full price, she said.

“I mean, obviously it’s good for the store if they don’t advertise and students still eat there,” Hamren said. “But it seems like if they’re going to offer the discount at all, they need to let people know.”