University Of Sussex Union Shop

Your one stop shop for convenient snacks and beverages on the way to a lecture or screening. Most things here are reasoably priced, with Coffee and chocolate bars asking you to dump as much change on the counter as you’d expect. What I do Love about this place, are the flap jacks… only 65p and slightly more filling than your average chocolate bar, these rule big time… And they come in a decent variety of flavours and all, so everyone’s a winner!
Also, if you’re a bus goer, they frequently sell weekly tickets in discounted bundles here! I got 4 week saver tickets for £30 here once! That worked out as £7.50 a week, witch is a damn site better than £3.50 a day I can tell you… As you’d expect, these are constant demand though, so trying to be one of the lucky few is a constant ambition rather than a guarantee.
Aside from food and travel, there’s a nice selection of stationary on offer and a plethora of clothes adorned with Sussex Uni name and logo. Its also nice to know that money spent here helps make the uni a better place… Not much use if you’re leaving or hate the place, but wonderful all the same!

Well, I went into the Union Shop for the Christmas sale — a huge sign on the window advertises hoodies starting at £5.99. Well, the sign was a bit misleading, but I was impressed with the shop as a whole.
Firstly, all the hoodies were £11.99 except those leftover XLs. So, I skipped past that. But I found the selection of snacks and prepared meals to be better than those in the Bramber and York House shops.
It was spacious; much easier to walk around, and the line-​up area was not directly in front of shelves — That’s such a pain in the Union Store. If I want candy, I have to wait until I’m actually in line to grab some. Oh, the pressure!
Plus, speaking of candy, Union Shop Pick and Mix! Pretty basic selection, but still. Nice for variety.

If you’re living on campus, the York House USSU shop is a great place to pick up milk or an emergency stash of chocolate. It is not, however, somewhere I would recommend trying to do your weekly shop! I lived with some seriously lazy boys in my first year at uni, so I’ve seen this tried. What you’ll end up with is an uninspiring collection of tinned soup, fresh pasta and Uncle Ben’s instant rice! The Student Union shop does sell some fruit and veg and bakery items too, but it’s quite expensive, especially if you’re trying to avoid the admittedly missionous journey into Sainsburys or Asda by doing a serious stock-​up. In my opinion this shop is best for it’s easy lunch options. If you’re on campus but don’t fancy any of the cafes, they do nice little pots of Mediterranean cous cous, vine leaves and olives etc. They also sell…(drum roll)…Bagelman bagels! YUM! Many a time I’ve popped in and picked up a ‘Reuben’ or a’ Funky Tuna’, soooo much better than the other sandwiches and wraps on offer!

This and McColls are the two options for the grocery needs of students living on campus — together they provide a limitted range and I think the uni could really do with a larger store. Although the weekly termtime market is great for fresh produce. The range in the Union Store has got even more limitted since they Union decided to get most of the produce through the Co Op. It does mean that there’re plenty of 3 for 2 type offers, but it’s not as cheap and the huge range of locally sourced fruit and vegetables (both out front and taking up a corner of the store) has now gone. You will find the odd bargain, and they tend to overstock the Co Op salads so pop by after 5pm and you may find a reduced one. Overall it’s okay — you have your typical range of items and you probably could get by if you did all your shopping here.