We tried out the new South Campus Co-op at Lancaster Uni and it’s changed our lives

South Campus residents, rejoice! You have officially been freed from treacherous walks down the South Spine to the SPAR because your brand new Co-op is finally here!

The Co-op is the third shop to have filled the lot in the last three years, following Central and LUSU Shop, and it looks like it’s here to stay.

Students living in South Campus have been very eagerly anticipating the new shop opening, with one Pendle student telling The Lancaster Tab: “I’m really excited to have a local shop opening up again, trekking to SPAR was too much to handle.”

The store finally opened this Thursday 6th November 2025, so we headed over to see what was going down.

The first thing you’ll definitely notice is how many self-service checkouts there are. The LUSU Shop tills are long gone, and there are now over 10 checkouts for you to use. Before you get confused, make sure to put your shopping on the left-hand side once you’ve scanned it.

That information would’ve saved us quite a bit of embarrassment.

There’s also a bakery by the entrance, with croissants, pastries, fresh bread, and more, which all look like they’re absolutely to die for. When it comes to that and the confectionery shelves, if we’re not careful, we fear we’ll spend half of our student loan there. 

Now, we all know what you’re waiting for: The drinks. Since the closure of many of the campus bars over the last year, students have had to source their drinks from elsewhere.

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The Co-op thrives in this sector. They have almost every fizzy drink you can imagine, tons of milk (now we don’t have to lug it back from Aldi), and enough alcohol to last a first-year flat an entire year… probably.

The shop also offers budget-friendly offers via its Co-op Membership App. For just £1 (which you get back off your first shop), you can sign up online for official member prices and offers every week.

And for any of you concert fiends out there, the membership also gives you presale to gigs at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, which is really easy to access from Lancs on the train.

Lancaster University Co-op will be open from 8am until midnight Monday to Friday, and 9am until midnight on weekends.

Oh, and if you ever decide to head over on Tuesdays at 6pm, you can pop in to one of our open meetings upstairs in Pendle Brew after your shop!

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