Erb Essentials, now renamed Union Market, is turning Japanese.
The recently remodeled convenience store now features fresh sushi, along with hot dogs and an expanded beverage selection in addition to its regular fare of salty snacks and candy bars. The store also has more toiletries and school supplies. The store will no longer offer tobacco products due to the EMU Board’s recommendation to ban tobacco sales on campus last spring.
Last year, the Campus Advisory Board, a group that educates students about tobacco, launched a successful campaign to ban tobacco sales on campus. Erb Essentials was the last place to sell tobacco on campus.
Store manager Kim Shore said she hopes the remodel and the expanded item selection, particularly the sushi, will generate revenue to replace the projected $90,000 they will lose because of the ban on tobacco sales. According to Shore, tobacco sales accounted for about 75 percent of the store’s sales in previous years.
Henry Ferguson, stepfather to a University freshman, dropped in to try one of the sushi combination trays. A former smoker, he said he is glad the store doesn’t sell tobacco products, adding that he’d prefer “even rotten sushi” to tobacco.
“The school shouldn’t be in the business of selling tobacco,” Ferguson said.
Freshman Ricarte Arnold appeared enthusiastic about the sushi offerings and said he is fine with the ban on tobacco sales, adding that his father smokes.
“I love sushi, and I hate the smell of cigarettes,” Arnold said. He added that he’d probably buy sushi every day for lunch.

Senior Sarah Holman said she would take advantage of the store’s selection of toiletries.
“I don’t have a car, and the nearest place is Safeway, and that’s like 20 blocks away,” Holman said.
Sophomore Phil Jackson said the new items and look won’t change his buying habits.
“I come in for Goldfish and a soda, and that’s it,” Jackson said.
In addition to the changes in the products offered, the store received an extensive $30,000 remodel. Shore said the store has been repainted and has new floors, refrigerators and sales area. One of the most noticeable changes is the u-shaped counter with registers at either end.
Student store manager Zach Mandell, a senior, said customer reactions to the changes have been somewhat mixed. He said some customers appeared slightly exasperated when they found they could no longer buy cigarettes, but that most liked the remodel.
“The regulars really like how it looks,” Mandell said.

[email protected]