The Marketplace at Thomas Hall will open Monday with projections to double business at the Carman marketplace, Danita Timmons, director of Thomas Hall Dining Center, said.

The convenient spot of the Thomas location – closely surrounded by three other South Quad residence halls – compared with the seclusion of Carman, is the main reason for the higher expectations.

“I want it to be huge, but until the doors open, that will remain to be seen,” Timmons said.

Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining, previously said, “By its physical location, I can’t imagine it not being (more popular than Carman).”

The Thomas hours are 8 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday.

Timmons hired 10 new employees to run a convenience center offering a number of grab-and-go items to students.

Racks of Pop Tarts, microwave popcorn and doughnuts, among other snack items, are on the north wall.

Three refrigerators containing Pepsi products, fruit juices and milk products are on the east wall.

And cases of 12-packs of pop and freezers of ice cream goods are on the south wall.

The two marketplaces will have similar items, but Hudson said the Carman location was built in an area that used to serve food and had a lot of stainless steel.

“I think the Thomas location will have a little more ‘convenience center feel’ because we remodeled it, instead of just revising it like the one in Carman,” Hudson said. “But students shouldn’t notice a big difference between the two.”

The food was shipped and stocked last week, Hudson said, and although Thomas is fully-stocked it is not 100 percent complete.

Timmons said Thomas is waiting on a freezer to be shipped, and Hudson said a door piece that has been missing still has not been received.

“We have had a big struggle with door assembly,” Hudson said.

The aforementioned piece is needed for the automatic door opener, but Hudson and Timmons assured the door was still accessible.

The Thomas location has two doors, on its north and east sides, but the north, outside entrance will be the only one accessible for non-employees.

The setbacks were not great enough to further delay the opening. The store was originally scheduled to open in the fall 2002, but did not because of the relocation of the fine arts departments.

“Whenever you get a project where you remodel, you can suffer some setbacks,” Hudson said. “A great deal of university resources, in terms of money and labor, were spent on the relocation of the Fine Arts department – and that was the appropriate decision.”

Nevertheless, Timmons is excited for the Thomas location to open, although the grand opening will not occur for a few weeks.

“On Day 1, we will have a soft opening where we can make sure everything is working,” she said.