U-Store eliminates membership discount for items without Princeton branding

On Tuesday, the Princeton University Store (U-Store) stopped offering discounts to its members on all items without Princeton branding. Previously, customers who purchased a U-Store membership received a 10 percent discount on “nearly everything in the store,” including food, staples, and supplies.

In a statement to The Daily Princetonian, U-Store CEO and President June Archer wrote, “We understand that our community values the membership discount, and we did not make these changes lightly. Effective immediately, the discount now applies only to select branded merchandise and no longer covers non-branded everyday essentials such as food, health and beauty products, school supplies, and dorm items.”

As of 2023, the U-Store had over 75,000 active members, according to a previous version of the store’s website. A lifetime membership currently costs 35 dollars, while a one-year membership is 15 dollars.

With a plethora of everyday items, the campus location of the U-Store at Sonia Sotomayor Hall is frequented by students, community members, and town residents. The Nassau Street location, however, primarily sells Princeton merchandise and apparel.

“This adjustment addresses rising vendor costs, including manufacturing labor, materials, shipping, tariff-related impacts, and royalty rates,” Archer explained. “It helps support the company’s long-term viability and financial sustainability.”

The U-Store, which is independent from the University, did not appear to inform its members about the policy change.

According to its website — which has not yet been updated to reflect the new policy — the U-Store operates as a not-for-profit cooperative, meaning it is not run to generate profits for private owners or shareholders. Instead, the store is owned by community members, town residents, and others who opt into the cooperative by purchasing a membership. Surplus revenue after expenses is reinvested into the business or returned to members in the form of discounts.

In interviews with the ‘Prince,’ U-Store members shopping at the University Place location expressed their disapproval of the policy change, which had come into effect earlier Tuesday.

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“I’m disappointed because, when you get the membership, they say it’s for life,” Phaedra van der Molen ’26 said. “I would rather them keep the discounts for food and take it away for the [merchandise]. Food is actually necessary.”

Laura Sabrosa ’27 agreed that the membership discount should cover staples, not merchandise, which she said “people don’t buy as much.”

Members also said that the change caught them by surprise.

Gwennie Nellis ’29, who had just made a purchase, said she didn’t know the policy was in place despite frequently shopping at the U-Store. “I feel like if you have a membership you’re entitled to know what that includes,” Nellis said.

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Sabrosa, who was not previously aware of the policy, told the ‘Prince’ that the lack of an announcement was “the worst part.”

The U-Store “should’ve advertised somehow that this was going to happen instead of having people find out when they’re paying or stopped to do an interview,” Sabrosa added.

A U-Store employee who declined to give their name to the ‘Prince’ said that the store will be closed for a “meeting” from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The U-store is “actively evaluating updates to the membership program to offer more value to members,” Archer added.

Nico David-Fox is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Washington, D.C., and often covers academics and the Undergraduate Student Government. He can be reached at nd0968[at]princeton.edu or news[at]dailyprincetonian.com.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.