In February 2021, Indiana University’s renovated Memorial Union (IMU) opened for business, however, the opening was not what the team had originally envisioned.
“We had redone the entire opening plan,” says Rachael McAleer, director of retail dining for the IMU. “So many things have changed from semester to semester.”
From online ordering only to a mix of in-person and online, COVID-19 has caused the dining team to continuously revamp how the renovated concepts operate since day one.
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Transitioning to online
With a COVID surge in full swing as spring semester started last year, the team decided to switch gears and scrap in-person ordering at the IMU for a while.
Thankfully, the team had started using Grubhub back in January 2020, so they were well equipped to handle the transition, says McAleer.
Physically, the dining concepts also had to undergo some changes. Many ordering areas became pickup areas. And The Mix, planned as a completely self-serve salad spot, had to be reworked.
Instead of building their own salads, students would place an order and then pick up their employee-assembled meal on a table just outside the concept.
The team also had to go through and individually weigh each of the ingredients to price them accordingly for online ordering.
With all the changes taking place, dining staff worked with marketing to raise awareness on social media so students wouldn’t be caught off guard when they came by to check out the renovation.
“Our marketing team did a great job of getting menus out on social to the students,” says Executive Director of Dining Rahul Shrivastav.“And I think our students understood—I hope our students understood—that we did not intend to start that way.”
Learning along the way
After several months using Grubhub only, the concepts transitioned to a hybrid service model that would include both Grubhub and in-person orders when students returned to campus in the fall.
However, the hybrid style quickly overwhelmed employees, and after the first week, the team reassessed and decided to switch to in-person ordering only.
“We would have a line that would be down the hall, and then people would be ordering on Grubhub as soon as it would open, and you would receive almost 100 orders all at once,” says McAleer. “And then, you would get people in line that had ordered Grubhub and they're trying to cancel the order and vice versa.”
Each of the concepts can switch back to online orders if the situation warrants. Pop-up eatery The Globe, however, has continued operating via Grubhub only so that participating restaurants can ensure they have enough food to fulfill orders.
“We found out from our opening when we tried them as a hybrid that they couldn't complete the orders that were placed online because they were running out of food,” says McAleer.
Future plans
With the concepts now open for about a year, the team has been able to gather additional feedback and will be making changes in the months to come.
For example, they realized that diner concept Whitfield Grill was not equipped with enough fryers to handle all of its fried side items and are looking to revamp the sides menu to include non-fried options, such as mac and cheese.
Another change will take place at Quarry Pie Co. due to IU Dining’s meal plan transition. Campus retail areas will be switching from a declining balance format to meal swipe exchanges, and to better fit the new plan, the concept will switch from serving personal pan pizzas to pizza by the slice.
While the renovation’s end result may be different than initially imagined, the collaboration between students, Union Board Members, the dining team and other school officials has made this modernization a strong one, says Shrivastav, calling it “one of my most successful renovations that I've been through.”