Students short on cash now have a way to learn about deals at off-campus eateries.
Two representatives from Sidewalk, a new start-up company initiated by students at the Fuqua School of Business, came to the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee Monday night to discuss their new company and gauge student interest.
Local businesses can use Sidewalk—which currently is based off of a Facebook business page—to quickly advertise time-sensitive deals during less popular times of the day in order to attract more customers. The company aims to be a part of every transaction that involves a student at an off-campus eatery, the company’s representatives said.
“So basically we are a marketing company,” said MBA candidate Andrew Joiner, co-founder of Sidewalk. “Our goal is to provide value to business by increasing the size of the pie..”
For instance, the company will provide coupons that allow students to buy two pizzas for the price of one Thursday nights from 8 to 10 p.m. at Vita. The company has also provided coupons for discounted margarita pitchers at Blue Corn Cafe for certain hours on Mondays.
In a few weeks, Sidewalk plans to have a mobile application for businesses to manually set the times and deals that they want to be listed, Joiner said. This option will give businesses complete control over the transaction.
Sidewalk currently only offers deals at off-campus venues, but representatives said that they are looking to move to on-campus eateries.
“When you’re walking out of class and you’re going to go to your apartment or dorm room and you kind of want a coffee, maybe if you get a free coffee with a bagel it’s a good deal,” said MBA student Alex Guttler, the company’s vice president of sales.
DUSDAC members said that students may be interested in “buy one, get one free” deals, but noted that they may care less about discounts that involve food points.
Sidewalk is exploring different means of notification, such as text messages, e-mails, Facebook, Twitter and a mobile application. Although they want to advertise the time-sensitive deals quickly, the representatives noted that they do not want to be intrusive.
The Duke Student Publishing Company, which publishes The Chronicle, is currently in the process of partnering with Sidewalk.
In other business:
DUSDAC members also heard updates about some of the food carts on the Bryan Center Plaza.
Paul Konstanzer, owner of hot dog stand Pauly Dogs, came to his first DUSDAC meeting in years with samples of his new dogs. Konstanzer is currently experimenting with new hot dog options, such as spinach and cheese, chicken and Italian herb. Konstanzer noted that he was recently placed in the top 32 of a national hot dog stand and restaurant competition. He also gave an update about his recent business.
“My day sales have actually dropped,” he said. “Am I seeing a trend of healthy eating? I think I am. Either that or it’s January and people have resolutions and they break them in March and I’m there. They come back from Spring Break and are like, ‘Wow I broke that—I’m going for a Chips Plus.’”
Sophomore Amir Abdu, a DUSDAC member, said he recently met with Gus Megaloudis, manager of The Greek Devil, about the cart’s recent changes. Since winter break, the cart has started selling falafel, and Megaloudis plans to make a candied nut cart but is currently awaiting a $3,500 piece of machinery.
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