“Just picture yourself in your dorm: hungry, knowing you have a 10-minute walk in 20-degree weather to get Chipotle, McDonald’s, whatever. You give us a text and bam, we’re there in 30 minutes with your freshly made Chipotle bowl,” said Aaron Hoffman, CEO of Campus Delivery.

Hoffman decided at 19 that he wanted to start Campus Delivery out of his Ohio University dorm room with a couple of his friends. His goal for the business: to help students obtain delicious food while keeping their wallets full.

Campus Delivery delivers – seriously. Students text the delivery number their name, order, address, phone number and payment method to receive any food or convenience item. For the fee of the item plus $4, a driver delivers orders in about 30 minutes and students are saved a walk in the cold.

“For instance, during finals week at OU, we deliver products right to the library or wherever,” Hoffman said. “It’s the little stuff like that which makes us unique and user friendly.”

Philanthropy and safety are also main focuses for Campus Delivery. In an effort to direct hungry students who may be under the influence, Campus Delivery aims to cut back on drunk driving by being students’ own personal deliveryman.

Last fall, Campus Delivery held their first ever basketball tournament. All proceeds were donated to the Autism Speaks Foundation.

For Hoffman, starting Campus Delivery just seemed logical. Figuring people would pay to have food or just about anything delivered, Campus Delivery was born – and now reaches – Ohio University, Kent State and the University of Delaware.

Making roughly $100,000 in sales their first year, Campus Delivery considers itself a success story that is making its way across campuses nationwide. The business caters to its student market, utilizing Twitter and Facebook to interact with students and followers. They also participate in a dorm campaign, posting flyers over dorms and high-trafficked areas of campuses.

Like other local businesses, Campus Delivery faces competition, especially when delivery businesses are more present than ever. The Local Public House recently opened in Downtown Kent for beer delivery, as well as local pizza places and Jimmy John’s “freaky fast” delivery.

According to Campus Delivery’s Kent Manager Garrett Walker, what differentiates Campus Delivery from a broader spectrum of delivery options is what they actually have to offer. 

“People will come up with the most random things,” he said. “And we can go get it for them. There is nothing else like that in the Kent area.” 

Walker interacts with students on a daily basis by directing and hiring the drivers, operating the social media channels and delivering. He describes the Kent delivery experience as “extremely nice and supportive… even the majority of students that I interact with through Twitter.”

Kent Campus Delivery officially begins in Kent Feb. 16.

Contact Payton Moore at [email protected].