USC Hospitality unfazed by intensifying competition with LA Live

With the LA Live shuttle up and running, more students are leaving campus in favor of exploring entertainment and dining options in Downtown Los Angeles, but USC officials say they are not concerned about losing student business at USC’s restaurants.

When USC Hospitality opened The Lab, McKay’s and Rosso Oro’s Pizza in the spring, the idea for the LA Live tram had not yet developed. Six months later, though, USC Transportation and LA Live have partnered to provide students with an easy way to get away from McKay’s in favor of the Yard House or the other dining options Downtown.

Eating in · Despite the new, free shuttle to LA Live, USC officials are not worried about losing business at The Lab, one of USC’s three new restaurants on Figueroa Street. - Mike Lee | Daily Trojan

But Hospitality insists it is not afraid of losing business to the competition further down Figueroa Street. Kris Klinger, director of USC Hospitality, said Hospitality and Transportation, under the umbrella of USC Auxiliary Services, considered the implications of adding the free shuttle before giving the plan the go-ahead.

“[Auxiliary Services does] a ‘SWOT’ analysis … strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats,” Klinger said. “So providing a shuttle to LA Live outweighs quite a few of the costs we’ve considered.”

Michael Roth, vice president of communications for AEG, the company that runs LA Live, said the venue has seen a jump in student customers since the launch of the new shuttle.

But Tony Mazza, director of USC Transportation, said it seems those students are going Downtown more for entertainment than for dining.

“In the end, USC Transportation has seen students using the shuttle when they are going to the movies at Regal Cinemas, to go bowling or to attend a sporting event,” Mazza wrote in an email. “But not necessarily when they are looking for dining options.”

Ryoko Yoshida, a senior majoring in communication, said if she were just looking for a meal, she’d be more likely to go to The Lab because going to LA Live takes more planning.

“You’d have to wait for the shuttle and then wait even longer when you get [to LA Live] to be seated, when you could just call Campus Cruiser and head over to The Lab,” Yoshida said. “But, if I was going to a concert or something at the Staples Center, then I’d probably want to eat at one of the restaurants [at LA Live].”

In addition to restaurants, Roth said, LA Live offers other entertainment activities like attending a Clippers or Kings game, a concert, going to the movies or bowling ­— all at the same location. Still, he acknowledged that it takes a little more time to get to LA Live than The Lab, McKay’s or Rosso Oro’s Pizza, and said that might factor into students’ decisions.

Roth said the decision to eat near campus or at LA Live may also be based on the slightly higher costs at the restaurants Downtown. The Yard House, for example, has a very similar menu to The Lab and McKay’s, but appetizers and entrées cost between $2 to $5 more on average.

“We’re all on budgets and are supposed to make choices and selections based on that,” Roth said.

Klinger said students might also choose the Hospitality restaurants for the atmosphere.

“I think it’s a more unique environment. There’s only one Lab and there’s a couple dozen Yard Houses, and it’s going to be mostly students at The Lab, whereas at the Yard House it’s going to be a mixture,” Klinger said.

But Yoshida said the collegiate atmosphere has a negative effect.

“Being older, I might want more of a diverse crowd at LA Live,” she said.

Yoshida said older students over the age of 21 could end up going to LA Live over The Lab with the intention of going out to Downtown bars and clubs.

Ramona Jhunjhnuwala, a freshman majoring in business administration who has used the LA Live shuttle to go out to eat with friends, said it’s about personal preference, regardless of the price.

“LA Live might be more expensive, but I liked it better,” she said.