Manager Mike Stohl said dwindling sales at the East Lansing store could be attributed to many factors, including recent changes made to residence hall cafeteria hours on campus.

At least one cafeteria at each residence hall complex extended its hours from 8 p.m. to midnight and stays open for dinner on Sunday nights.

“Their reason for making those changes is a good one,” Stohl said. “They’re trying to make money, so you can’t fault them for that.”

Bruce Haskell, food services coordinator for MSU’s residence halls, said the changes were made to cafeteria hours based on surveys students take each year about how cafeterias could be improved.

“Year after year, the requests we’ve heard from students have been the same,” Haskell said. “Students wanted to be able to eat later, we weren’t open late enough and we weren’t offering Sunday dinners. These had been long-standing issues for students.”

Haskell said about 20 percent of students in the residence halls are using their meal plans from 8 p.m. to midnight each night. In East Complex, where Holmes Hall is open later hours, that equates to about 900 students a night, he said.

While students may utilize the extra hours that cafeterias are serving food in place of local businesses, Haskell said the changes were meant to better serve students.

“Some places may experience a change in their business, but we’re a business, too,” he said.

“We’re trying to provide the best service to our customer base and we’re meeting the needs of the student the best we can.”

Ryan Scherer, a finance junior, said the cafeterias staying open later hasn’t kept him from having food delivered to his room late at night.

Scherer said he has ordered from Menna’s Joint, 115 Albert Ave., and Gumby’s Pizza, 315 W. Grand River Ave., when eating cafeteria food becomes repetitive.

“You can only have so much cafeteria food beforeit gets sick,” he said. “You have to switch it up after a while.”

AJ Walilko, a junior Japanese major, said he has used his meal plan instead of ordering food like Scherer, his roommate in Shaw Hall.

“It’s a lot more convenient to go over to Snyder-Phillips and get some food than to call and order a whole pizza,” he said.