Leuven –
In its first week, the Leuven student restaurant Alma had a turnover of only 16 percent compared to last year. To save the furniture, the board immediately asked for pruning. That means: only three Alma’s will remain open, only for snacks and without hot meals, according to student magazine Veto.
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The major culprit is the corona crisis. Alma developed an extensive reservation system to serve the students in a safe way. “Only, the people won’t come,” says CEO Daniel Lips. “I still don’t have an unambiguous explanation why.” The price increase – from a minimum of € 3.75 to € 6 – does not play a role in this, Lips thinks.
Snacks and sandwiches
From Monday, therefore, only Alma 2, Alma Gasthuisberg and Alma De Moete will open their doors. Also the new ones bikethroughs in Alma 1 and 2 remain open. With snacks and sandwiches, but no hot meals. Alma cannot bear the cost of opening a kitchen with the current number of customers. The buildings of Alma itself will be used as study areas, again by reservation.
The blow is immense for Alma’s staff. Only 20 of the 130 employees will be able to start as of Monday. Some of those 130 employees have been on temporary unemployment since March. Lips also acknowledges that the reserves at the student restaurant are gradually running out. Nevertheless, there would be no redundancies for the time being.
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