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The Towerlight October 5, 2009
8
NEWS
OneCards
accepted
by local
businesses
More off-campus
locations attract
student clientele
for more profits
OLIVIA OBINEME
Staff Writer
Multiple Towson area businesses
have been added to the existing list
of places trying to cater to students’
stomachs and wallets simultaneously
by joining Towson’s OneCard
program.
Select businesses in the area
have signed agreements with the
University to use the OneCard program,
which places a card-swiping
machine in their establishments for
students to use retail points.
“I I think think the
the concept
is relatively relative easy. I
even used it at Bill
Bateman’s and it
was pretty simple.
JEFF MILLER
sophomore EMF major
“I think the concept is relatively
easy,” sophomore electronic media
and film major Jeff Miller said. “I
even used it at Bill Bateman’s, and
it was pretty simple.”
There are currently 19 off-campus
businesses where the OneCard is
offered as a choice of payment. The
businesses range from salons to
restaurants.
“We joined the OneCard program
because we are trying to attract a
little bit more TU student-clientele,”
All About Me Salon and Spa
manager Nathalie Sams said.
All About Me Salon and Spa has
been using the program in their
business for a month and Sams
said they are glad they are using
the program.
“Now, students would walk by
our salon and see they can use the
OneCard, so they come in,” she
said.
Known for its world-famous
cheesesteaks, Jerry’s Subs & Pizza
on York Road was happy to allow
students to use their OneCard,
especially since they have had good
results using another college’s
OneCard program.
“We have had the TU OneCard
for about a year, but we already
had the OneCard program with
Goucher,” Jerry’s Subs & Pizza
manager Jessica Grobe said. “But
See CARD, page 9
EMPTY: Stability questioned
Eric Gazzillo/The Towerlight
A vacancy owned by Towson Commons in the central Towson area displays an advertisement in the window to lease their space so that it
is no longer vacant. There are approximately 18 vacant locations now in the central Towson area.
From COVER
According to Hafford, the majority
of vacancies are located in the
Towson Commons building at the
corner of York Road in central
Towson.
“They’re actually renovating
Towson Commons, so everyone
that is here has to leave. So we’re
actually moving as well. We are
moving two blocks closer to Towson
University. We are leaving and will
not be back here,” BookHolders
general manager Nathan Zaremba
said.
According to Zaremba, construction
will not start until July of next
year. The plan is to rebuild the
structure entirely from the ground
up.
Hafford, unaware of this development,
said they are working with
Towson Commons and trying to
help them find businesses that will
rent in their building.
“I talked to them and didn’t get
that feel from them,” she said.
Genny Hardesty, an employee of
General Growth Properties and the
general manager to the property,
would not divulge any information
on these rumors.
The official comment coming
from Towson Commons is, “We
are looking forward to leasing the
vacancies that we have and continuing
to be a good partner in
Towson,” she said.
Cerato said the biggest problem
is how the “big powers” in Towson
see the area.
“They think Towson is a family
town and it’s not. It’s a college
town, plain and simple. Anyone
who wants to see an example of
that should be here during the summertime.
Everything is completely
dead in the summertime when the
kids aren’t here,” Cerato said.
Koenig agreed, stating, “we need
this college.”
As far as the vacancies, Hafford
gave future plans and reasoning
behind the majority of the vacancies,
saying “there is a place going
in there,” or “they just left.”
“I hope that those places all fill
up, I really do, but I’ll believe it
when I see it,” Cerato said. “I think
in this economy it’s kind of myopic
to think people all of a sudden are
going to be opening up 18 businesses
in Towson. I don’t know who
has money to do that, and if they
do, more power to them.”
Vacancies in town
Log on to The Towerlight
Web site to view an
interactive map of the
central Towson business
vacancies.
www.thetowerlight.com
Photo courtesy of Google Maps
A screenshot from Google Maps shows the various locations near
Towson University that were once in business but are now vacant.