As freshman Sheny Palacios prepared for her first year at SMU, a new computer was a top priority. She picked out a Dell the summer before starting classes. It wasn’t until she visited SMU with her father that she realized there was a computer store on campus.

“We were thinking about buying a case there, but they only had ones for Macs,” Palacios said.

During the six months she has been on campus so far, Palacios said she has never bought anything at the SMU Computer Corner. She said she looks for cheaper options at stores like Wal-Mart when she needs paper or ink.

And she isn’t the only one who isn’t shopping at the electronic retailer located on the main floor of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center.

“We’ve definitely seen a decrease in revenue due to the recession,” Store Manager Daniel Hope said.

January 2009 sales for the SMU Computer Corner dropped 11 percent compared to January of 2008. Before that, Hope said they were seeing an increase in sales.

“When the recession started we did have a decrease, but it’s been kind of steady throughout 2009 and into 2010,” Hope said.

The store reflects the national trend in retail sales according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The bureau reported in December that third quarter retail sales in 2009 were down $19.2 billion, or 3.7 percent from the same quarter in 2008.

Sales for electronic and appliance stores for January were even worse, falling 7 percent from January 2009. The SMU Computer Corner is operated by HiEd, Inc, which operates electronic stores on college campuses across Texas.

Hope estimates his store’s annual sales at around $1 million and said half of that comes from sales in July and August, when the campus is much less populated.

Hope said the incoming freshmen who visit campus during AARO sessions are their best customers, adding that enrollment numbers at SMU directly affect the store’s sales.

Lagging sales during the fall and spring semesters are due to a lack of advertising or promotions by the store, something Hope says it is working on.

“We have noticed that there’s still a good amount of students who don’t even know there’s a computer store on campus,” Hope said.

Junior Swanee Cruz said she knows about the store and walks by a lot, but has never bought anything. She said she needs a new computer, but that the SMU Computer Corner probably wouldn’t be the first place she’d go.

“I would consider buying it there if there was a significant discount,” Cruz said.

Hope said that the store’s biggest and most exclusive discounts are on Adobe and Microsoft Software. The two Apple stores near campus, at NorthPark and on McKinney Avenue, are a large part of SMU Computer Corner’s competition, especially for laptops, Hope said. Students buying at the SMU Computer Corner over the Apple store save at most $10 on a MacBook Pro and $5 on a MacBook.

Senior economics major Rachel Ellis got her laptop at the Apple store before she started as a freshman, but said she has bought a calculator and Microsoft Word at the store before.

In the past two months, Hope said there has been a decrease in foot traffic in the store, but he’s not sure if that’s recession related.

However, a recent study by Reuters and the University of Michigan showed that their preliminary consumer sentiment index, or consumer confidence, fell for February, signaling that Americans still believe there are tough times ahead and could be cutting back on retail shopping

Hope said the company tries its best to weather those tough times.

“Just like any other business, you do what you can to cut costs and run things more efficiently,” he said.