UIC Scientific Storeroom expands to east campus location
For over 25 years, the UIC Scientific Storeroom has kept UIC research in motion, providing walk-in shopping or online ordering for laboratory needs, office supplies and safety equipment.
On October 22nd, the storeroom will add a new east campus location in the Science and Engineering South building, servicing researchers in chemistry, biology, engineering and other fields. The location will be the storeroom’s second, joining the original storeroom on the health sciences campus in the College of Medicine West Tower.
The new east campus storeroom in SES Room 4320 will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Director Ron McKinney said that it will carry general scientific supplies at launch, but he encourages east campus researchers to request field-specific items that he can keep in stock for their laboratories.
“There are some labs that treat the storeroom kind of like a grocery store, where they go regularly to buy their stuff, and there are other labs that treat it more like a 7-11 – we're out of this supply, so let’s run to the stockroom and buy it real quick,” McKinney said. “While I have over 20 years of experience working with biology researchers, we really want to learn the common things that chemistry, engineering and biology laboratories use, so that we can serve their needs.”
The east campus location will also provide a pickup spot for orders made using its iLab online system. Orders made through the iLab page for the west campus location can also be delivered to the east campus storeroom by request. If an item is not carried by either storeroom, researchers can make special orders from Fisher Scientific, Sigma and DNA primer supplier IDT either in-person or online.
In addition to the convenience of picking up orders on campus, the storeroom can also often order supplies at a discounted price and without shipping costs, McKinney said.
“For the vast majority of supplies, I get a better price than what individual customers can get,” McKinney said. “And when you factor in free shipping, it becomes a very good deal.”
Laboratories using the storeroom must be registered with the Research Resources Center and have an iLab account. The west campus location is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in the College of Medicine West Tower, Room A305.