Duke students can look forward to an incentive to exploring different dining venues in Durham.
The Duke-Durham Discount Program—an initiative through Duke Student Government—is slated to take effect in January 2014, said junior Derek Rhodes, DSG vice president for Durham and regional affairs, who is spearheading the project. DSG is currently working with local eateries to create a weekly discount calendar in hopes of getting students to go out and eat off-campus.
Rhodes said he hopes to have five or six vendors participate in the program with each vendor giving a discount to students one day a week. The discount would vary based on the vendor, but he said the goal is 20 percent.
“The impetus of it for this year has been the change in dining on campus,” Rhodes said. “This is a way to further incentivize students to explore the greater food options in Durham.”
The program started in 2009, but fizzled away because students mostly keep to on-campus eating routines. DSG attempted to reinstate the program for a trial-run last January, but student interest waned then as well.
“College students, especially at Duke, get caught up in these patterns, so we either eat on campus or on Erwin Road,” Rhodes said. “For the vendors, it’s their chance to put their face on campus in a really unique way.”
Rhodes, who is from Durham, said the program will be mutually beneficial for Duke students and Durham businesses.
“A lot of vendors that I spoke with at least recognize the value of having Duke students in the Durham community,” Rhodes said. “For some of them, it was no problem at all because they wanted Duke students to eat at their places and tell all of their friends. Another incentive is [that] it creates a new market for their business.”
Co-founder of Local Yogurt, Leah Bergman, said that her business offers Duke students a dollar off of any purchase on Tuesdays and offers a similar discount to affiliates of the Duke University Medical Center on Thursdays.
“We thrive on the Duke community and want as much of Duke as we can get,” Bergman said. “If a student organization is looking to raise money for a nonprofit, we do sale days and anything we can do to try to get a stronger relationship with Duke University and Duke students.”
Not all vendors close to Duke, however, would be able to afford giving such hefty discounts. Cammie Brantley, co-owner of Elmo’s Diner—Durham said that their prices are as low as possible.
“Honestly, our margins are not such that we can do a 10 or 20 percent discount,” Brantley said. “We try to keep our prices as low as they possibly can be.”
Junior Tony Cao said he is excited at the prospect of the Duke-Durham Discount Program and thinks it will be a way to bring Duke students out in the Durham community.
“The program would encourage me to get off Duke and eat in the greater Durham metropolitan area,” Cao said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.