The
Associated Students of Madison are still going to pursue the installation of a
grocery store in Union South despite plans for a grocery franchise to move into
the new University Square complex in August.

ASM
chair Gestina Sewell said the announcement that Roundy?s will place one of its
franchises in the complex, located at the corner of University Avenue and Lake
Street, has not stopped their plans to get a grocery store included in the
remodeled Union South.

Sewell
said ASM still went forward with their grocery store presentation to the Union
South design team at the mini-conference Monday. She said she believes there is
room for both establishments on campus.

?The research behind
what ASM has done shows there is not an abundance of grocery stores in the
area,? Sewell said. ?So it does not make a grocery store on the southwest of
campus redundant.?

According
to Susan Springman, president of Executive Management, Inc., the company in
charge of operating the University Square complex, a grocery store was listed
as something they wanted to include from the beginning of the project.

Springman
said the store will occupy two stories, take up 27,000 square feet and will be
specially tailored to cater to ?the downtown market.?

?We?re very excited
about it,? Springman said. ?There?s a need in the area. There will be 1,000
students living nearby, all with kitchens.?

Sewell
said ASM advocates having a grocery store on campus, even if it is not the one
they planned.

?ASM?s plan had
developed from listening to the student body?s ideas on what they?d like to see
on campus,? Sewell said. ?We see that service as something that is very
beneficial. It doesn?t matter to us who provides it.?

According
to Sewell, a grocery store in Union South could coexist with the University
Square store by concentrating on a different market. She said she would like a
grocery store that focuses more on providing local products and fresh produce.

Sewell
said by concentrating on providing different products than the franchise store,
the Union South store will complement, and not duplicate, the University Square
location.

Springman
said the grocery store is only a fraction of the 140,000 square feet of total
retail space available at University Square complex.

Although
the other tenants of the retail section have not been announced yet, Springman
said there will be restaurants, clothing and specialty stores.