Vendors on and around the downtown Phoenix campus are catering toward students to increase business as the student population grows.
With more classes available, a second tower of Taylor Place dormitory open, and an increase in students and staff, vendors have seen more customers, local entrepreneurs said.
Lizz Garcia, a sales representative for Cold Stone Creamery, said that a lot more students have come in since Taylor Place opened and she expects better business as the semester continues.
Gary Robinson, a co-manager of the Sbarro on campus, said having so many college students around helps “tremendously.” Sbarro has been finding ways “to cater to the students” in order to increase business, Robinson said.
Sbarro put in a soft-serve ice cream machine and started making more personalized pizzas, Robinson said. He will also be putting art displays inside the store and plans to encourage students to display their own artwork for sale.
On the other hand, 1130 The Restaurant in the Arizona Center near campus still hasn’t reaped any benefits from nearby students, general manager J.P. Peebles said.
He said the restaurant offered a 10 percent discount for ASU students last year, but still didn’t get much business from students. Peebles said he’s hoping the campus’ growth this year will help business.
ASU has set up programs to make it easier for students to eat outside of dining halls and other on-campus options.
Steven Harper, director of ASU Marketing and Communications, started a program called Use It Here.
The program allows students to show their Sun Cards at various businesses and get some type of a discount, Harper said.
He explained that the type of discount is up to the vendor, but can range from anything between 10 percent off a purchase to a free appetizer.
“The program is free for the retailers and that allows us to market internally,” Harper said.
There are advertisements on the digital screens of Taylor Place, the University Center, the Downtown Devils newsletter and the faculty and staff newsletter.
Liesl Puletasi, a criminology freshman, said she’s interested in the discounts the program offers.
“If there’s food and there’s a discount, I’m down,” she said.
Journalism freshman Christina Bravo said if businesses didn’t accept Sun Dollars or offer ASU discounts she wouldn’t visit them as often.
“It would be a lot harder to want to come,” she said.
The Downtown campus also uses Sun Dollars, which is money students can put on their Sun Cards and use like debit cards.
Andrew Perkins, the campus card manager, said the program makes contact with businesses that students may be interested in and asks them to participate by offering discounts.
Jasmine Dean, a journalism sophomore, said it is pointless to use Sun Dollars because it’s just using your own money, referring to the fact that Sun Dollars are real dollars added to a Sun Card.
Perkins said he understands many students have debit or credit cards and are comfortable using them, but the perk of Sun Dollars is that a student only has to carry one card.
“We are really exploring new and innovative options for the future,” Perkins said.
Reach the reporter at rachel.jimenez@asu.edu.
