College Town first opened its doors 10 years ago with the renovation of the Barnes & Noble on the corner of Mt. Hope and Elmwood Avenue. Over the decade, numerous stores and restaurants opened locations in College Town, transforming the once-barren parking lot into a popular destination among the University’s students.
Now, one year after the University’s purchase of College Town, the shopping center is experiencing a new wave of change.
Most notably, several popular College Town shops now accept Rocky Bucks, the University currency formerly known as URos. Joy Mart, Taichi Bubble Tea, and Primohoagies each incorporate Rocky Bucks as part of their rewards program. Joy Mart also offers a 5% discount on all purchases with Rocky Bucks.
The expansion has been a success so far. According to Joy Mart manager and UR sophomore Jessica Dong, in the first two weeks of the fall 2024 semester, students have spent more than 2,000 Rocky Bucks at JoyMart.
Edwin Li, UR junior and employee at College Town’s Joy Mart,, has an explanation.
“It’s very beneficial because many of us can just buy groceries without having to worry about our own actual bank account because it’s already part of our dining plan,” Li said. “It’s like expanding our campus’ dining places… and also with the new bus stop it’s very convenient as well.”
Starting this semester, the Blue Line shuttle service has added bus stops at College Town’s Texas de Brazil and Fitness Center, in addition to its stop behind Goler House.
The impacts of these changes extend beyond Joy Mart. According to Ken Zhou, general manager of Tai Chi Bubble Tea, numerous students have come into the store requesting to pay with Rocky Bucks. Although the restaurant has not yet finalized their contract with the University, Zhou explained that due to popular demand, Taichi Bubble Tea does accept Rocky Bucks. He expects the contract to be finalized in the upcoming weeks.
Unlike Joy Mart and Tai Chi Bubble Tea, the concept of accepting University currency is not new to the College Town’s Barnes & Noble. According to general manager and UR alum Frank Tallarico, the store accepted the University currency while it was known as URos and will continue to accept it as Rocky Bucks.
Tallarico stated that although these changes may be confusing for many people now, he believes they will ultimately be beneficial to the University’s community.
“URos was confusing for some of our international students,” he said. “If you don’t see it written down, ‘U-R-O-S,’ you think that perhaps it’s the European currency. So making it ‘Rocky Bucks’ I think will clarify a lot of things.”
Tallarico believes the name change will also create a distinction between Dining Dollars — formerly known as Declining Dollars — and Rocky Bucks. It is common for students to ask to purchase materials with Dining Dollars, he explained, which neither Barnes & Noble nor any other store in College Town accepts. He hopes that the name change will make it clearer to students that these are two separate currencies, and that stores in College Town only accept one.
Although this change might be difficult to adjust to, Tallarico stated, it will happen with time.
“It’s like anything, any change in academia,” he said. “Four years from now, no one’s gonna remember URos. It’ll all be Rocky Bucks.”
