A student led petition is now the driving force behind new product additions in a local Albertsons store.

In September, a petition was started for Albertsons to carry more merchandise supporting Southeastern Louisiana University in addition to LSU, which currently comprises the bulk the store’s inventory. Other stores such as Walmart and Bayou Booksellers already carry Southeastern merchandise, but now a movement has started to get more businesses involved with the university.

What many students may not have realized is that Albertsons has been carrying Southeastern merchandise for several years. But regardless of that fact, in a matter of weeks, Albertsons has begun to make more active changes to show its support of the university.

The petition was circulated predominantly over e-mail and Facebook and reached a large audience very quickly. The online petition reads:

“We, the undersigned, feel the Hammond Albertsons grocery store should respect the local community and its customers by promoting the hometown Southeastern Lion athletic teams with as much, if not more, enthusiasm as other Louisiana universities.”

In less than two weeks, 250 Southeastern students and alumni signed the petition to get more merchandise into the local Albertsons store.

“I signed the petition because it is mind blowing that a store that receives all its support from the Southeastern community chooses to support a school an hour away,” said Hunter Carter, a political science junior.

Albertsons carried a variety of LSU merchandise, and little Southeastern gear, and this is the first time a petition was used to give a voice to the students who were looking for more visible support.

“I think the petition gave many frustrated fans the opportunity to collectively make their voices heard,” said Erin Cowser, the Executive Director of Public and Governmental Affairs at Southeastern. “Most fans aren’t necessarily anti-LSU; they just want the Lions to be represented with just as much, if not more, gusto than the Tigers.”

This push by the community has Albertsons responding quickly and positively. As soon as the petition was noticed by Kevin Brunelle, the manager of the Hammond Albertsons store, he began looking into the issues being raised.

“When I first heard about it, I drove around town to see who else was carrying Southeastern merchandise, and the only place I could find was Wal-mart.” said Brunelle. “I have always wanted to get something going with Southeastern. I was working with Dr. Moffett a few years ago to get something going with Southeastern to try and get something going at Albertsons.”

The main reason for the LSU logo in Albertsons is what is known as a licensing agreement. Essentially, LSU and Albertsons locations signed contracts saying that Albertsons could use LSU logos to promote the 10 percent discounts in order to get more business into the stores.

According to Brunelle, Albertsons in Hammond is currently working on a licensing agreement with Southeastern. This will allow for more promotional partnerships between Southeastern and Albertsons in the future.

“I understood the whole deal with LSU,” said Brunelle. “But I had to do my job which was that I had to promote LSU, because that’s a licensing agreement. It had nothing to do with my feelings towards Southeastern.”

But even this reason is insufficient for some. Questions have been raised along the way as to why Albertsons had this kind of contract with another university before Southeastern to begin with.

“I firmly believe the concept of a grocery is to be an essential and indispensable part of a community,” said Chris Barcelona, a Southeastern alumnus. “To not even think of representing their current community, rather than the interests of marketing plan that takes no consideration of other interests than LSU, is a shame.”

To some it may seem that Southeastern students and alumni were picking on Albertsons by not demanding similar results from other businesses in the area. Some local residents have questions about the fairness of such demands.

“I don’t personally understand why the kids care so much,” said Adelita Gomez, a local resident. “They aren’t saying anything about places like Winn-Dixie. I mean, what made them choose Albertsons?”

But the requests of those who signed the petition were simple: to stop showing so much support for LSU and show more support for Southeastern. Students argue that the store is part of the Southeastern community and should be willing to support it.

“I shop at Albertsons,” said Elizabeth Chauff, a senior at Southeastern. “I signed the petition because I believe community grocery stores should support the local college, not a college over an hour away.”

In response to this, manager Kevin Brunelle has taken an active role in planning big things for both the university and Albertsons, beginning with Homecoming day on Oct. 23.

During the day, all customers who enter the store wearing a Southeastern shirt will receive ten percent off of their purchases. The first 150 women to come to the store wearing a Southeastern shirt will receive a carnation to wear to the Homecoming game.

The store will also have a much larger inventory of Southeastern shirts and paraphernalia, possibly including green and gold wristbands for the event. The store will have Southeastern-themed demos in the bakery and deli sections, as well as a Coca-Cola wagon giving out free drink samples on Friday from noon to 2 p.m. Community Coffee, Pepsi and other demos inside of the store are also in the works for customers to enjoy.

There will be eight Southeastern game tickets given out during the day, four to the Northwestern game and four to the McNeese game. The entire store will be decorated in green and gold, along with banners and posters announcing the discounts. But what customers may notice most of all will be that the LSU logo will be removed from the store for the day.

“It will be all Southeastern all day,” said Brunelle. “I’ll tell you what I am ecstatic about it. It’s a great opportunity for us both; it’s something we should have been doing a long time ago.”

The university is looking forward to this partnership with Albertsons. Student Government Association president, David Cavell, cited some general reasons of why this partnership will benefit both sides.

“The Hammond community must band together to support Southeastern in any way possible because the success of the business community relies on the university,” said Cavell. “We can assuredly stand strong knowing that we have the support of the local area.”

Students are also thrilled about the changes taking place in the store.

“I think it is great that Albertsons is willing to offer SLU students the discount,” said Kathryn Snitzer, a Junior at Southeastern. “As a kid they were my favorite store, and this is a perfect example how they are not only Lions fans but also have the best interest of SLU students in mind.”

But this is only the beginning. According to Brunelle, Albertsons and Southeastern officials are working to continue these events for future football seasons, and make this a permanent change in the community. He wants to get more special events put together for larger football games like the season opener game and also possibly raffle game tickets to customers in the store.

“I really think the response from the community has been great as far as the petition,” said Brunelle. “I know some people could view it as a negative, but really it’s a positive. It just goes to show what people can do if they put their minds to it.”