By Mike Kilen
GCU News Bureau
A new, more spacious Mail Center opened Monday to meet the needs of a growing Grand Canyon University student population and its online shopping habits.
“Because this is a click-and-shop generation, they get a lot of packages – more than 1,500 a day,” said Stephanie Salas, Campus Mail Operations Supervisor.
The Mail Center, on the first level of the new parking garage at 31st Avenue and Camelback Road, is 9,260 square feet. Students, faculty and staff walking from the main campus can take the bridge over Little Canyon Trail, and to the right is the entrance to a large lobby with both entrance and exit doors for better traffic flow.
It includes a huge warehouse filled with shelves that soon will be bursting with everything students ship or order.
“Today, students ship a lot of things here when they move in, everything from mufflers to sofas and hundreds of refrigerators,” Salas said.
Katelin Davis, part of an increased workforce of 50 student workers at the center, said the large counters allow them to more conveniently service people picking up large packages. It’s the way students shop today, picking it up via mail.
“I ordered a lamp online. I didn’t have to drive off campus and spend an hour looking for one,” she said.
The copy center is also located at the center, adjacent to the lobby.
“As the University grows, this will be the middle of campus,” Salas said.
The new center also has added storage for more growth – another 6,360 square feet of underground warehouse space. Huge mail cages from the United States Postal Service can be housed there, waiting for unloading.
Salas is guessing it will soon be filled with the small refrigerators that students love to ship here.
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at [email protected] or at 602-639-6764.
