UCSD General Store Co-op

La Jolla, United States

4.3

Closed now

18 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 858-450-3080
Website:
www.thegeneralstorecoop.com
Address:
9500 Gilman Dr Ste 0323-G, La Jolla, CA, 92037
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.4 miGilman Dr & Villa La Jolla Dr
0.5 miUCSD West/Pepper Canyon
0.6 miVA Medical Center
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Parking
Garage
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes

Today

Today 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (La Jolla) 12:19 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Business hours

Monday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Thursday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Our school supplies, snacks and drinks are the cheapest on campus. We sell records, classic video games and consoles, knick knacks and other things that are hard to find. We are the only place on campus that sells tobacco products. We also buy back used textbooks for more than the UCSD bookstore.

History

Established in 1980.

The General Store Co-​op was started by students who wanted to save money on jeans by buying wholesale. The store grew from there with the goal of saving students money. Even today, our goal is to lower the cost of living on campus by providing low-​cost goods to students.

Meet the Business Owner

Gstore C.

Business Owner

The General Store Co-​op is a non-​profit, non-​hierarchical, student-​run collective. All of the members of the co-​op have equal responsibility and authority in running the store. We all work together with one goal in mind: to do what’s best for the student.

UCSD General Store Co-​op also recommends

Groundwork Books Collective

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Gstore C. says,

«Our friends at the non-​profit Groundwork Books work hard to provide all sorts of low-​cost books to students.»

Porter’s Pub — CLOSED

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Bars

,

Music Venues

Gstore C. says,

«Porter’s Pub is right next to The General Store. Come here for good food, cool people, and a great place to hang out!»

The Che Café Collective

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Gstore C. says,

«The Che Café is a San Diego historical landmark and the home of underground music in San Diego.»

UCSD Food Cooperative

14

reviews

Bagels

,

Health Markets

Gstore C. says,

«The Food Coop is non-​profit and volunteer-​run and offers fresh, organic, vegetarian food at little cost.»

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18 reviews of UCSD General Store Co-op

No registration required
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
great little place with good and random selection of things to buy, co-​op is definitely a plus, couches to chill, old piano to fool around. old game consoles and games for them. good vibe from people who work there. also they buy your dvds
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
This place is awesome been going here for 7 years now… I’m staff on campus and I’ve watched the price of food raise over theyears while the g spot price rise now and again its nothing outrageous like the rest of campus…
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
NOT to be confused with the Food Co-​op, which is next door (and also amazing). The G-​Spot has the CHEAPEST PRICES ON CAMPUS. Cigarettes, swishers, hookahs (and shisha and coals), records, choco-​tacos, mexican coke, thrift clothes, DVDs, video games, and they ALWAYS beat the sunshine market and all of the dining halls for prices.
They also do book rental stuff and they bought back my old textbooks. I hear they take triton cash now too, not that I have triton cash but that’s cool if you have it.
I LOVE THE G SPOT
Place rating: 5
La Jolla, CA
5 stars for selling cigarettes on a UC campus. Pretty decent selection of vinyl records, as well.
Place rating: 5
Reno, NV
During lunch they usually have a good selection of vegetarian curry, soup, tamales, etc. Their curry is always delicious. It is super cheap too… usually around $ 2.25 per scoop of curry.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
The Co-​op is slightly cheaper than some other locations on campus (like the Sunshine market). The stuff they sell varies whenever you go there. I really like the people who are working there and they don’t totally rip you off with stuff like single doses of Dayquil.
And they’re the only place on campus that sells cigarettes which is convenient. Their cigs are actually cheaper than the gas station (the only place I know of in the immediate area that has cheaper cigs is CVS). They will also give you matches if you need them and their lighters aren’t super lame like those stupid mermaid ones they were selling at the sunshine market for the longest time.
Place rating: 3
New York, NY
Clean and cute little store. I am not a student but when I worked nearby it was fun to sometimes walk on campus for lunch as it was a nice change from the crappy hospital cafeteria food.
Love the selection of healthy eats.
Not so much a fan of the price tag attached.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I worked here during my freshman and sophomore year of college. It’s an ever changing environment. When I started working things were a lot more raunchy, with blowup dolls, dildos, and gay porn cards littering the store. The dinosaur became popular icon while I was working there, and I worked on decking out the store with our new mascot.
The General Store is very unique, and you’ll notice it when you walk in. To those who don’t know what a Co-​op is, it’s short for cooperative. It means the employees also make managerial decisions. The General Store is completely student run, and has been that was since it was founded in 1980. It makes for a great learning environment, and you can get a lot of experience working here.
The selection at the General Store is highly variable. They sell whatever they think will sell. Don’t take it personally if they got rid of something you like, you were probably the only one buying it. Or the vendors are late delivering the good. Drop a line in the suggestion box (if it still exists). They read what you write.
Place rating: 4
San Jose, CA
6 swishers for 5 dollars
wut
Place rating: 4
Sacramento, CA
I like that this place has healthy food packed with veggies and beans and generally has no line. Although I think that the food is over-​priced, its still cheaper than eating at the UCSD Price Center, and I know that the money goes toward supporting the co-​op.
Wednesday afternoons they have a mini-​buffet set up by a Hare Krishna group which you can either load up a plate full of vegetarian food, or bring your own tupperware and for $ 2.50 more have all-​you-​can-​eat style servings.
Im a pretty big fan, since I frequent there 1 – 2 times/​week
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
The staff is really friendly and easy-​going. They have a lot of neat items and kick-​knacks that can be given as gifts, even a little section of consignment items.
This is a great place to buy school supplies, everything here is cheaper than the UCSD bookstore. Same with snacks and drinks, you’d save a few quarters coming here versus going to a vending machine. This is also the first place I’ve seen on campus that sells boxes of Hello Panda.
As of this past summer, they now have an official vinyl records section in one corner of the store, with several styles of music to look through (jazz, classical, rock, soundtracks, compilations, etc).
Place rating: 5
Los Gatos, CA
Went here for the first time today, I never knew this area existed…
Bluebooks are super cheap here, only a quarter! The stupid bookstore is always boosting up the price. I didn’t have time to really browse but the place looked really fun and relaxing. I’m gonna go check it out next quarter :)
Place rating: 4
La Jolla, CA
In my long, seven years on campus, I have to say the G-​Store gets credited with an assist in helping me finish my thesis and graduate.
I first discovered the joy of the G-​store way back in the summer of 2002. As a young incoming graduate student, I was assigned to help an older student finish up his project. At some point I asked him where a vending machine was to get a soda during a break. He informed me of how cheap the G-​store was (I believe it was something like $ 0.80 or $.90 for a 20-​oz when the vending machines were $ 1.25), and gave me money to pick him up a diet coke and to buy one for myself. From that day on, I was hooked.
I’ve watched the G-​Store move into their newer, fancier, more open space, and seen many employees come and go. I think it’s telling about the vibe of a place when the students actually working usually have a few friends hanging out, not actually being paid to be there.
Yeah, the soda prices have recently gone up to as high as the vending machines and are actually more expensive than the Sunshine store right now. Their snack selection isn’t quite as expansive as the sunshine store either. Still, they’re way closer to Revelle, and just way more fun. And considering how many dollas they’ve saved me over seven years, I don’t mind supporting them here at the end even if they’re no longer cheaper than my mom (and that’s pretty cheap!) on soda.
Rock on G-​store. Keep rocking long after I’m gone.
Place rating: 5
New Orleans, LA
This is an amazing place to go and hangout. They’ve got a pretty sweet Tetris machine and a big screen television with a good selection of N64 games.
I also come here when I want a candy or gum fix.
I also buy all of my class supplies here, not only because they’re a student worker collective, but also because their prices are much cheaper than anything in the UCSD bookstore.
The workers here are really nice and helpful — Andrew Rubens has award winning waterfall cascade of bangs!
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
Not going to lie, I come here for the cigarettes. It’s the only place on campus that sells them. They have a viciously overpriced, but impressively well-​stocked stash of all your usuals. Marlboro lights, mediums, reds, and 27s. Parliaments and Camels up the hee haw. As well as weak sugar-​coated clovey cancer sticks for the hipsters.
It’s a cool vibe. The cashiers are always chill. You get free matches. It’s great. I almost don’t mind paying the extra buck fifty. Almost. Might not be the best deal in the world, but at least I get my fix.
Watch out for those cheap lighters though. The flints on ‘em suck.
I miss my funny/​hip cashier acquaintances. I’ve gone a long while sans cigarettes now… we’ll see if that persists.
[EDIT]
So the prices have actually gone up now due to a tax hike on ‘baccer… but I’ll give them this much: CHEAPER THAN RALPHS.
[EDIT]
One pack. Seven motherfuckin dollars. FML.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
This place is the BOMB for 3 for 25 cents Red Vines!
Everything’s cheaper here than the bookstore plus sunshine market, you’ll avoid the nasty lines/​crowds in Price Center, and the workers are super chill.
And seriously, 3 Red Vines for $ 0.25?! Nothing can beat that!
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I like this place, besides the usual student notary (blue books & scantrons) they have a good selection of Jones Soda, damn silly postcards and cheap photo processing. I have been a loyal customer since my student days, all those years ago.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I just plain love the Co-​op general store. I love the idea of the Co-​op and I love the reality of it. It is an organic food shop in UCSD’s old student center where hipters go to shop and hippies go to work. I’ve spent many of my college days hanging out, working, or just wasting time in the Old Student Center and I always made a trip to Co-​op when I was there.
I love organic food, and the Co-​op always had a sugar free, carb free, dairy free snack I could grab before I went to class. The place isn’t exploding with variety, but you can always find a sandwich, yogurt or cup of veggie chili there that will hit the spot. But one of my favorite items that the Co-​op carries is chocolate covered honey mints. They run a quarter a pop and I haven’t found them anywhere else. They’re a great treat to munch on in class, in the car or pretty much anywhere. Dang, writing this is making me crave one now.
Damn you Co-​op! You almost make me wish I didn’t graduate.