SAN MARCOS – Palomar is welcoming a variety of vendors back to campus this fall. From jewelry to books, these vendors are selling all types of products designed to interest students.
Palomar partners with many small businesses around San Diego, allowing them to sell their products in order to promote student life on campus. Since the start of the semester, we have already seen a few vendors set up shop by the Student Union.
A local jewelry vendor set up a stand here to promote their business. Kris and Jackie Chan started Vena over 10 years ago and partnered with Palomar to sell jewelry and other accessories. Despite a busy schedule, they attempt to visit Palomar at least four times a semester. Kris noted that Palomar was the first school to provide a spot for a small business like theirs to sell their products to students.
En Route Institute is another vendor that visited Palomar recently. Eric Kessler, the director of the business, sells high-quality, used books to students. He has been coming to campus for 38 years selling books to students. Kessler sees the value in books and academics, and that’s why he encourages reading to students. This year, the business only reserved a space for one day.
Another business named Sterling Creations came to campus just this week. The business sells tapestries, bags, and jewelry. Sterling Creations has also been coming to Palomar for well over 30 years, similar to En Route Institute.
These specific vendors who have visited campus so far carry a lot of credibility at Palomar since they have been coming here for many years. Students know them and trust them. A few widely known brands have been appearing on campus as well, such as Monster Energy, Coke, and Minute Maid.
Throughout the rest of the semester, we can expect many more vendors to set up shop. What they have to offer, though, we don’t know. Supervisor of Student Life and Leadership, Pippa Pierce, didn’t have much to say about who we will see.
What we do know is that any business can request a spot to sell on campus. However, they do need to go through an approval process. Pierce made it clear that “we don’t choose them, they come to us,” referring to vendors.
Overall, we can expect more small businesses to visit campus throughout this semester. We will find out what they have to offer along the way.
Corrections: A correction was made on this story on Sept. 20. A previous version of the story had a typo that read “…a variety of vendors back campus” which was corrected to “…a variety of vendors back on campus.”
