Sodexo expects up to a 30 percent loss of GUC customers with the arrival of the new eating areas in the Commons in February.

“I’m sure they will take somewhere from 20 to 30 percent of the business away from the GUC,” said Alan Kinkead, general manager of Sodexo. “I would say almost for sure that it would never come back. They might take even more than that at first, but then I think once the novelty wears off then perhaps it won’t be quite as much.”

The Commons will include national brands Chick-fil-A and Starbucks and local brand Frostbite.

Frostbite will not be associated with Sodexo so students will be unable to use their dining dollars there, Kinkead said.

“I haven’t used my mane card yet,” said Brittany Etherly, a freshman.

Etherly is planning to save her $135 in dining dollars for Chick-fil-A, she said.

For the 2012-2013 school year, roughly 71.5 percent of total revenue was spent at the GUC. To compare, World of Wings had 18.3 percent of the profits with Towers and the C-Store profiting 10.3 percent total, Kinkead said.

Kinkead expects customers from the university and the surrounding area to be especially drawn to Chick-fil-A and Starbucks because of their national appeal and the novelty they create, he said.

“There’s a lot of student oriented destinations (at the Commons) and, hopefully, that will keep that building busy all the time, and I’m quite sure it will certainly pull some business away from the GUC,” Kinkead said. “I don’t think it’s going to have a whole lot of effect on any of the other locations, but I think obviously at first it’s going to be, you know, it’s a novelty so everyone’s going to go check it out. Everyone loves Starbucks and Chick-fil-A, and at first I think it’s going to take a lot of the business from the GUC, but I think eventually things will settle in.”

Kate Partain, a sophomore, is hopeful the new eating areas will offer later hours than the current ones, she said.

“I think it will be especially busy if they stay open later hours,” she said. “I don’t know what the plan is for that, but it will give students another place to eat besides WOW.”

Freshman Juliet Willicott is also saving up her dining dollars for the incoming Chick-fil-A, she said.

“Although I love Starbucks, because my best friend works at the one in Huntsville and I get it for free, my dining dollars will be saved up for the Chick-fil-A,” Willicott said.

Despite the appeal of the new eating areas freshman Jordan Gist doesn’t know if saving his dining dollars will be worth it, he said.

“The lines will just be outrageous,” Gist said.

Partain plans to use her dining dollars after the busyness of the Commons has subsided, she said.

“Personally, I’m saving mine because I know once the Commons opens students will flock over there, and I plan to use mine after it has settled,” Partain said.