In order to reduce environmental impact and educate business students, Grand Valley State University opened the GVSU Surplus Store to students and the general public in February 2014.

Aaron Caccamo, senior strategic sourcing specialist for GVSU Procurement Services, said the GVSU Surplus Store’s purpose is to provide a way to obtain revenue that goes back into GVSU’s general fund. Additionally, he said the store reduces the amount of university materials typically collected in landfills.

“The GVSU Surplus Store is modernizing and updating the way the GVSU community disposes of its unused materials,” Caccamo said. “When items have reached the end of their life cycle, Procurement Services collects them and makes them available for resale at the retail store.

“We continually work with our vendors and partners to ensure all byproducts of recycling are disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.”

On Aug. 29, Caccamo said the store had an open sale featuring 50 percent off laptops and 20 percent off furniture, which already were sold at reduced costs. Other popular items sold at the store include: desks, graphing calculators, phones, monitors, keyboards and kitchen items.

“In order to give our customers added value and extra reasons to shop at the Surplus Store, we always try to have a special sale for one or two specific categories when we hold open shopping hours to the general public, because we price everything reasonably we hope they find value in that as well,” Caccamo said.

Rebecca Ramos, assistant promotion of the Surplus Store, who once was a student worker at the store, said a major benefit is students have a chance to receive hands on experience in business and customer service. To maintain a sustainable atmosphere, she said the store also helps students create a responsibility to reuse and recycle items on campus.

“I’ve seen a lot of faculty purchasing things that were previously used by other faculty and staff,” Ramos said. “This insures a new life cycle within the university for these items, and that also helps give money back to the school.”

Ramos said the open hours for the store depend on the amount of available staff and inventory ready for sale; however, the store is open year round online. Students can visit the online webpage to purchase items and pick them up in-store for up to two weeks after purchasing.

“Our student workers are really influential to us being open and available,” she said. “We’re always looking to get more hours open as the store grows, and more feedback to when students would like us to be open. Hopefully, as we expand, we can do more for the GVSU community.”

Caccamo said the GVSU Surplus Store, located at 140 Front Street in downtown Grand Rapids next to GVSU’s Seidman Center, in-store hours are halted as construction is active around the location. However, students can get updates via Facebook (GVSU Surplus Store) or Twitter (@GVSUsurplus).

“We hope to hold open shopping hours as soon as the construction allows us but are still open online for shopping, and we post all updates and events on social media immediately,” Caccamo said. “We will be adding more inventory over the next couple of months.”

For more information on the GVSU Surplus Store or to make a purchase visit, www.gvsusurplusstore.com.