Makeovers underway at FIU Barnes & Noble, GC restaurants

Renovations are underway in the Graham Center that will offer more options for dining, gathering and shopping by summer’s end. The improvements began on the first day of the summer sessions when students, faculty and staff returned to campus to enjoy a renovated GC Food Court situated with new tables and chairs to seat approximately 360 customers and new tiled floor areas.

The ongoing enhancements include the opening of a new Chili’s Too restaurant, an expanded Jamba Juice, the opening of a Gamestop and a makeover for the FIU Barnes & Noble Bookstore and Panther Stop convenience store. The interior facade of the FIU Bookstore in the Graham Center will be transformed with new floor to ceiling glass windows.

A series of grand opening events are scheduled for this fall when students return for the new academic school year.

“All of the improvements are about expanding services and creating places for students, faculty and staff to gather,” said Jeff Krablin, associate vice president of Business Services, which oversees all of the university’s business and retail agreements. “This renovation and additions in the GC are only a small piece of what is to come across the campus in the fall and over the next few years.”

Each retailer and restaurant on campus contributes a percentage of sales back to FIU. “We are creating all of these great spaces and making great memories,” said Business Services account manager Elena Montano-Gilley. “The best part is the money that students, faculty and alumni spend here goes back into the university.”

Chili’s Too

Opening: June 23

The much-anticipated Chili’s restaurant will open in the Graham Center on the first day of Summer B with indoor and outdoor seating for 311.  The menu will be the same as you would find in Chili’s restaurants at major airports with fajitas and quesadillas, baby back ribs, salads, burgers and sandwiches.

Construction of the new Chili's in the Graham Center is well under way and the restaurant will open on June 23.

“The faculty and staff are so excited,” said Felecia Townsend, director of Business Services who oversees retail food agreements. “We’re being asked daily about it.”

The restaurant will serve beer, wine and signature drinks. Everyone will be required to show identification and wear a wristband to order drinks.

The new Chili's restaurant will open to a newly relandscaped outdoor area on the east side of the Graham Center.

The Chili’s outdoor seating area will be covered with awnings and overlook a newly landscaped and restored lake on the east side the Graham Center.

The restaurant will offer a Chili’s To Go service with quick, convenient parking for pick-up behind the Graham Center next to the loading docks. It will be open late on weeknights for parties and beginning in the fall, it will open on Saturdays.

“A lot of our students go home on the weekends and we want them to stay on campus,” said Townsend. “We want to make staying on campus as fun as possible. I really feel we will have arrived when you can come to campus on the weekend and all of our services are filled with students hanging out.”

FIU Barnes & Noble Bookstore and Café

Completion: end of July

The bookstore renovation, which began this week, will reconfigure the Panther Stop convenience store to become part of Barnes & Noble. During construction this summer, all convenience store items will be relocated and sold inside the Barnes & Noble Bookstore and Café.

The new convenience store will have a modern design and features like self-service fountain drinks and more healthy food options.

Downstairs bookstore merchandise will be rearranged to accommodate new FIU spirit products and a larger section of trade book.  Upstairs, the café counter will be enlarged to hold more food items. Café seating will grow from 112 to 152 with new chairs, booths and ottomans. They are also adding more power outlets, three flat-screen televisions and some modern design concepts that will add character to the existing Café.

The outside patio of the Barnes & Noble Café will be covered and ceiling fans are being added. “We want to be a center of campus life,” said Barnes & Noble Assistant Manager Dan Salzverg. “This is the kind of place you sink into, a place where you stay all day. We really believe in the ‘college’ part of college bookstore.”

Gamestop

Opening: mid August

The world’s largest video game retailer will open in the Graham Center space where the Panther Stop is now located. Panther Stop is moving inside the Barnes & Noble Bookstore.

Customers will be able to find the same products they’d find at Gamestop in shopping malls: hardware, games and accessories for Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, Wii, PSP and PCs. FIU’s will be the first Gamestop on a U.S. college campus.

Jamba Juice

Completion: mid August

In the short time Jamba Juice has been in the Graham Center, it has quickly become a favorite with students, faculty and staff. To alleviate the long lines and congestion, Jamba Juice is expanding into the adjacent space formerly occupied by Afrodita’s Garden. Tables and seating will be added in the expansion, accompanied by new menu items.

— Deborah O’Neil MA ’09