For Sam’s, high popularity doesn’t equal big profits

State Liquor and Deli is the most visited lunch spot among students of the school who go out for lunch, according to a survey conducted by The Student Voice in May. Sixty-four percent of 55 sophomores, juniors and seniors surveyed selected the deli, commonly referred to as “Sam’s” because of owner Ssyam Batel, as their most frequently visited place to eat.

Sophomore Tejwant Goberdhan said that Sam’s serves great food at cheap prices. He also said that Ssyam himself is a friendly person and that he’s familiar with a lot of his customers.

“Sam is really cool. He’s a nice guy and he’s never mean, so that’s why I think people go to him for lunch a lot,” Goberdhan said.

Goberdhan said that Sam’s is very convenient in many ways because of the ways people can work things out with Ssyam to get a lunch order into the customer’s hands.

“Sam is reliable because you can place an order in the morning and he’ll make it at your lunch period, then you can go get it,” Goberdhan said. “Sometimes I tell him my order in the morning, and I tell him when to make it,and it’s fresh when I get there for lunch. It’s really convenient.”

Junior Gilberte Daceus said she goes to Sam’s as well because of the convenience and its prices. She says she goes to Sam’s about once or twice a week to purchase food.

“I think [students] go to Sam’s because of it’s good food at a manageable price,” Daceus said.

Apart from Sam’s food and cheap prices, it’s not very different compared to other eating places in the area, according to Daceus. She said that because of the deli’s popularity, Batel probably earns good money.

“I think he makes a lot of money, except in the summertime since the store is probably dead,” Daceus said. She guessed that Ssyam makes around $1500 or $2000 a day from the school’s students and staff.

A survey conducted by The Student Voice from April 26-28 showed that Sam’s earns an average of $247.60 in total receipts, but not in profit, during the students’ lunch periods, and that students spend an average of $3.40 at Sam’s. During the survey, students were asked about their purchases while at the store.

“I bought an Arizona iced tea for $1 and a chicken sandwich for $4. For $5, it’s a pretty good deal,” sophomore Romance Buie said.

Although it may be expected that Sam’s makes a lot of money because of the students’ frequent visits, this is not the case. Cashier Geeta Batel said that the amount of profit they get from a specific store item is a lot less than what they had to pay to get it on store shelves.

“For about a $1 juice, we pay 80 cents for it and only get 20 cents back from it,” Geeta said.

Ssyam says if he were to make $200 a day from the school, he would only receive a ten percent in profit from it.

Despite the low profit margin, Ssyam said that the store’s popularity provides enough money to keep the store in its present location and condition.