Associated Students UCLA reported a steep drop in sales in January, a decrease that could be related to winter quarter’s late start this year.

Preliminary sales for ASUCLA were down 15 percent in comparison to the previous January’s sales, said Richard Delia, ASUCLA chief financial officer. Preliminary store sales for ASUCLA were down $828,000, he said.

While January is usually a slow month, Delia said the decrease is substantial.

“It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen anything this severe,” he said.

Winter quarter started a week later than usual. That’s a possible reason for the sales’ decline, Delia said.

He said he hopes sales will be made up in February.

“Sometimes people won’t buy in January (because they’re) waiting for February,” Delia said.

Delia also cited economic factors. Money is tighter when it comes to students and their families, he said.

“Students are facing higher tuition, … parents are worried about jobs,” he said. “There are a lot of issues.”

Karleen Giannitrapani, a Graduate Students Association representative in the ASUCLA Board of Directors and graduate student in public health and African studies, said she does not think the decrease is a short-term phenomena.

ASUCLA needs to start forming a long-term strategy for boosting sales, Giannitrapani said.

“It’s not like we have a catastrophic problem,” Giannitrapani said, “What we have is a problem of changing trends.”

Giannitrapani said fewer students rely on ASUCLA as a source for food now because of the Hill’s increased dining options.

She said the book market is also shrinking as options like

Amazon.com and Chegg.com gain popularity.

Renan Martins, a third-year electrical engineering student, bought used textbooks from Amazon.com this quarter because of the reduced prices.

He said he has not bought anything, textbooks or otherwise, from ASUCLA recently because of its higher costs in comparison to other stores.

Delia said ASUCLA’s declining sales is also representative of other businesses suffering from the weak economy.

“If you look at some of the outside retail, Gap, for example, they’re down 5 percent,” Delia said. “We’re not the only ones out there, some of it has to do with the economy itself.”

From ASUCLA’s perspective, a less comfortable fiscal future lies ahead, Giannitrapani said.

“I think it’ll be a rough couple years,” she said.

Funds from ASUCLA sales go back toward student programming and other student services on campus, Giannitrapani said.

Because student programming is funded by ASUCLA, student services on campus would be negatively affected by the loss in revenue.

These services include all those offered by the Undergraduate Students Association Council and the Graduate Student Association.

“Falling short of our budget could really impact the availability of programs,” Giannitrapani said.

To save money, ASUCLA has been replacing retirees’ jobs with student-work and consolidating jobs in a long-term strategy to create a more efficient system.

In the short term, ASUCLA hopes to boost sales through Ackerman Student Union’s Valentine’s Day sale on Feb. 9, Delia said.