On the ice, senior co-captain forward Jordan Schupan of the Icecats is thinking about whom to pass to or when to shoot. Off the ice, he’s helping people decide what they want to eat through his invention: cactusmenus.com.
Schupan first came up with the idea of a website to help people decide what they want to eat when he was a freshman. At the time, he and his roommates would end up ordering food from the same places every day.
“”It got into such a routine that I thought there had to be other places that deliver and other places we could eat at,”” Schupan said.
He attempted to find an online database of eateries near the UA that delivered, but had no luck.
“”There wasn’t really one complete source that had everything,”” he added.
That’s when he came up with the idea for cactusmenus.com to make eating choices easy for students, giving them a variety of options to avoid repetition.
“”Students can order their food online and view all the menus and phone numbers from the restaurants around campus,”” Schupan said. “”It’s really just designed to make figuring out where to eat a lot easier. We want to make day-to-day food decisions a little smoother.””
The website first went live in early October and Schupan says everything has been running smoothly. He said that there have been around 7,000 page views and there are just over 100 user accounts.
There are seven restaurants currently available for online ordering and Schupan said there would be more added next semester. Additionally there are menus for about 60 restaurants to view by categories including “”wings”” or “”Mexican/Southwest.””
“”We’re really looking to expand the amount of restaurants we have and to get as many people as possible using it,”” Schupan said. “”By the end of next semester, we’re looking to have about 15 of the top delivery restaurants around Tucson.
“”We want to stick to the ones that students like and want to use as far as the online ordering.””
A new benefit of the website is that not only are users able to order online, they also have access to exclusive deals that can’t be found anywhere else, according to Schupan.
“”It’s designed with the student budget in mind,”” he added.
Schupan is double majoring in marketing and entrepreneurship and he feels the website “”integrates perfectly”” into what he’s been learning through the two majors.
However, he said marketing is the biggest thing. Currently it’s spreading by word of mouth and creating a “”buzz.””
“”The site really does come down to the marketing of it,”” he said. “”It is a great resource but if nobody knows about it then it’s not helping anybody. It just comes down to getting the word out about it.””
Schupan doesn’t take credit for everything though. He gets help from his Icecats teammates on spreading the word and using the site as well as from his friends. He said that the general feedback has been good.
He still said times can be chaotic for him but that is when his support staff helps him out. Schupan also said they are looking for marketing majors to intern.
“”It gets pretty hectic between school and hockey right now and I definitely don’t sleep as much as I’d like to,”” Schupan said. “”I’m still a college kid and I’d like to enjoy my last year of school here.””
In the future, Schupan hopes to see the website become a true brand name around the UA and that everyone starts using it. He credits technology’s advancement in making it possible and said they are working on a smart phone application too.
