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Also Published in the New Mexico Newsport

By Courtney Salinger

University of New Mexico students asked for it and they got it: New Mexico’s first ever tap room on a college campus.

The idea of a campus taproom was first proposed in 2016 — partly as a nod to the booming beer industry in New Mexico. The proposal sparked petitions leading to the UNM Regents approval.

The new establishment, Draft and Table is located in the Student Union Building (SUB), and opened its doors to UNM students and faculty just over a month ago. The tap room currently sells draft beers from both local and national breweries, non-alcoholic beverages, and food such as street tacos and flatbreads.

UNM’s Draft & Table, located in the SUB. Photo by: Courtney Salinger

“I enjoy the tap room. It’s a cool place to come and hangout, do some work, drink beer, it’s nice,” said UNM student DaShaun Vahn. “The people who work here are very friendly, so I enjoy it.”

UNM faculty have already taken advantage of the SUB’s newest development by incorporating the tap room into course curriculum, like the geography department’s World of Beer class.

“We are in this big topic right now which is engagement with our local scene,” said World of Beer course instructor, Maria Lane. “Every class we have two brewers come in and tell us what’s going on locally and that has just been awesome.”.

World of Beer class guest speakers, Angelo Orona from Craft King Consulting and Gabe Jensen from Bosque Brewing, along with course instructor, Maria Lane. Photo by: Courtney Salinger.

Lane’s World of Beer curriculum explores the historical, cultural, and regional geographies of beer. Each class features a guest panel of sommeliers and entrepreneurs in the beer industry. Representatives from Draft & Table, along with other local breweries, have made visits to Lane’s class.

“We’ve got an incredibly high density of award winning brewers in this city and the quality of beer is very high,” Lane said. ”I think Draft and Table has done it in the right way… They’ve been really thoughtful of how to make it a place for socializing and welcoming for students of all ages.”

World of Beer course instructor, Maria Lane. Photo by Courtney Salinger.

According to the Brewers Association, New Mexico brewers produce over 116,000 barrels of beer each year. That’s a total of 2.4 gallons per legal adult, ranking New Mexico 23rd in the nation.

The Beer Serves America organization recently studied every U.S. state for how beer affects the economy, ranging from tax revenue to economic impact. New Mexico’s beer industry generates $87,840,300 in business and personal taxes and $60,205,500 in local and consumption taxes. Nationally, the beer industry pays more than $63 billion in taxes (see infographic)..

Infographic from beerservesamerica.org                               

To learn more about the World of Beer class, you can follow them on Twitter @BeerGeography.

You can follow Courtney Salinger on Twitter @lookinfresh23.

By: Courtney Salinger and Jennifer West

Aerie, a chain store that sells loungewear, casual wear, shoes, and accessories for both men and women, drove their truck to the University of New Mexico on September 17 and 18, 2018. The Aerie truck came to sell clothes and accessories and promote new merchandise, such as their new Real Me collection, which is a lingerie collection. The fashion truck parked between UNM’s Student Union Building (SUB) and the Zimmerman Library and was full of students. Aerie was giving away popcorn to students and also set up a sack toss game for students to enjoy. Associates were inside and outside of the truck to be ready to help customers when needed. These fashion trucks coming to campus makes shopping easily accessible to students while keeping the store in business by making additional sales on campus.

“It’s easily accessible and you can get a feel for it and maybe they’ll want to go get more” says Iris Gonzales, a UNM student and Aerie employee, talking about how trucks coming to campuses can encourage more students to visit the store and how the store is now easily accessible to students.

UNM student and Aerie employee, Iris Gonzales. Photo by: Courtney Salinger.

Aerie provided 40% off of merchandise when students sign up to be a rewards member of Aerie and made a purchase from the truck. In addition to the discount, every order over $75 received a free Aerie yoga mat. Merchandise prices range from $10 to $75.

The Aerie fashion truck visited UNM on September 17 and 18. Photo by: Courtney Salinger.

“It’s pretty nice, especially with the 40% off. I think a lot of people used to go to Victoria’s Secret but now Aerie opened up, it’s cheaper and has a lot of really cute stuff, so I would say yeah, people are willing to go visit Aerie in the mall after seeing the truck,” says UNM student and Aerie truck customer, Jaylynn Bulsterbaum.

“I think it’s really nice because a lot of people have the college kid budget and a lot of us don’t have the money to spend it on the more expensive stuff, so the price point and the 40% off is actually really interesting to me.” says Kylie Dorsey, a UNM student and Aerie Truck customer. Dorsey says that if the store continues to provide discounts, she will be more persuaded to check out the store knowing that she will save more money as a student. Dorsey also says that it is possible that more stores will send out trucks to come visit college campuses more often if it does well and if it positively affects their business by getting more sales and customers. “They’re going to possibly realize that the student community is a really big community and that if they can give us discounts, they’re going to get more business.” says Dorsey.

This is not the first time a fashion truck has stopped by the University of New Mexico. Victoria’s Secret’s PINK, which also sells loungewear for women, has had University of New Mexico as a stop on their bus tour. PINK also came to the campus again on Thursday October 4, 2018 to promote their merchandise.

The Aerie truck featured an activity where students can sit down to make do-it-yourself roller balls for the Bright Pink charity, which helps support women with breast and ovarian cancer. “The roller balls are a really good incentive for students too. People seem to be enjoying it, even if they only donate a dollar.” says Gonzales.

Bringing fashion trucks to college campuses can be a way for a company to promote the store by getting the students interested to visit the store or their website to purchase items. Fashion trucks on college campuses are also able to easily connect with college students by bringing the store to the students instead of having students come to the store, which makes it convenient for students when they have spare time on campus.

The American Mobile Retail Association worked with California Lutheran University for the 2nd year to conduct a national survey about the mobile retail industry. The survey provides information such as the yearly gross revenue and the ownership percentage for the mobile industry.

Survey on the mobile retail business industry

by American Mobile Retail Association

Wealth and investment manager, Credit Suisse, reports that within five years, 20% to 25% of malls will begin to shut down.

To learn where Victoria’s Secret or Aerie’s next campus visits are going to be, check out their facebook pages.

You can follow Courtney Salinger and Jennifer West on Twitter at @lookinfresh23 and @JenniferLWest97.

Also Published in the New Mexico Newsport

By Courtney Salinger and Jennifer West

Marissa Lopez and her mother Kristy Garduno, are two of the owners of Albuquerque’s newest gym, Body Mass Foundation, hope to change the way people make healthy gains — with “no rules.”

Body Mass Foundation, BMF, opened Aug. 26 and is located on the first floor of Cottonwood Mall, across from Conn’s and the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

The “no rules” approach allows gym members to “slam weights, bring food and drink into the workout area, and to just have fun,” said Lopez, whose family owns the company. Body Mass Foundation is a family run business, consisting of Lopez; her father, her brother, and her mother.

Gym poster in Body Mass Foundation at Cottonwood Mall in

Albuquerque, New Mexico. Picture by Jennifer West

Lopez said it all started when her father, Arthur Lopez, was frequently attending a gym and came up with the idea to open up his very own gym. Lopez said her father did not like the rules in other gyms and they were always full of people.

Her younger brother came up with the gym name, Body Mass Foundation because he liked how Body Mass is another term for body weight and Foundation is like the structure of a workout program.

According to Lopez, all of her family members help run  the gym,but her father is the main boss because he prepared and opened the business. He also handles  the money and orders equipment.

Workout equipment in Body Mass Foundation gym at Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico, picture by Jennifer West

Lopez described working with her mom as “awesome, but it’s hard at the same time because we are together 24/7 anyways.” Lopez said co-managing with her mother meant not getting along well some days, but that overall she enjoys the time they spend together.

Garduno, described working with her daughter as “a challenge,” because Lopez tends to  exercise during work time. But Garduno said she loves being able to work with her daughter. Lopez says that her and her mother are closer now than they were before.

Garduno said the family’s goal for the gym is to keep their members happy and to make people  feel comfortable working out. “We don’t discriminate and we don’t have all of these rules like other gyms that make people feel uncomfortable,” Garduno said.

The monthly gym fee is $19.99, with no contract or sign up fees. That’s a competitive price compared to similar gyms like Defined Fitness, which charges $39.99 per month.

Lopez said she hopes to expand the business into a bigger space within Cottonwood Mall or possibly its own stand-alone location. The family is currently working on collaborating with gym supplement store, GNC, and Monster fitness clothing. To help promote the business, the family has a booth in the mall located across from Boba Tea, where they dress up in BMF and Monster merchandise,pass out fliers and hold raffles for prospective customers.

To learn more about Body Mass Foundation Gym, visit their Facebook page and website.

You can follow Courtney Salinger and Jennifer West on Twitter at @lookinfresh23 and @jenniferlwest97