For students bogged down by finals and struggling to make it to the grocery store, the Ram Runners grocery service is ready to help.
December graduate Max Harris, who co-founded the organization in February with junior Rich Skill, said the idea behind the delivery service was to make buying groceries as easy as possible for campus residents and students without transportation.
“My first year on campus, I didn’t have a car,” Harris said. “The bus was a huge hassle, and I promised myself I’d never do that again. You’re very limited in what you can bring back.”
The service allows students to order groceries from an online database of nearly 1,000 products. The items are then delivered directly to students’ residence halls or apartments.
New products are added to the website regularly, and Harris said the service hopes to have more products by the beginning of next year. He said the business buys most items wholesale, but goes to Harris Teeter for more specialized requests.
Besides a delivery price of $5, which covers transportation costs, students pay a normal retail price for the items.
Ram Runners’ website has about 50 registered users, and the service is averaging about one delivery a day.
But, Harris said, the service hopes to attract new users in incoming freshmen, many of whom don’t have cars and can’t purchase groceries easily.
For now, Harris and Skill are using all profits to run an advertising campaign, which has grown from chalk and fliers to business cards with discount coupons and a Facebook page.