Businesses around Emporia use student discounts to get the attention of Emporia State students, but students wish for more opportunities to save.
The majority of businesses in Emporia don’t offer any student discounts. But the ones that do, from department stores to restaurants, seem to think it’s worth the small loss in order to get more people into their store.
“We lose some profit, but it’s a good alternative to have people coming in still,” said Francisco Busto, manager at Mr. Goodcents Subs and Pasta.
Mr. Goodcents offers a student meal for $6 including an eight-inch sandwich, a drink and a cookie or a bag of chips. Without the discount, this meal would be about $9. Busto said it is the main thing students order when dining at Mr. Goodcents.
Jacie Stephens, sophomore health promotions major, said she and her roommates take advantage of student discounts a lot, but she wishes there were more.
A popular place to get a student discount in Emporia is Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers. Freddy’s offers a five percent discount off of any purchase for all students with their ID card.
“We get probably 15 or 20 students a day that come in and use their discount, so it’s fairly often,” said Emilie Rowe, manager at Freddy’s. “We have offered the discount since we opened so almost four years.”
Rowe said they don’t lose much from offering the five percent discount for students. Having people in the restaurant attracts more people to stop in. Also, having the discount seems to encourage students to come in more, even though it is only five percent.
Ryan Howerton, sophomore art education major, said he thinks student discounts are great at the places that offer one, but he always forgets to use it.
Brown’s Shoes Fit Co. offers a 10 percent discount on regularly priced merchandise for all students. Brown’s carries athletic shoes, high heels, sandals and everything in between. There are shoes for men, women and children.
Aaron Otto, Brown’s manager, said there are usually five or six students every week that come in and use the discount. Otto said that they try to let anyone that comes in that may be a student know about the discount they can receive.
“I think it’s a good thing that students can take advantage of because going to school, things normally are a little bit tight on the budget,” Otto said. “So I think it’s something worthwhile for the students to take advantage of.”
Ally Switzer, manager at Bruffs, said they are currently working on creating a military discount, but she doesn’t see them offering a student discount anytime soon.
The Memorial Union offers discounted Worlds of Fun tickets, Silver Dollar City tickets and Kansas City Renaissance Festival tickets.
Some local businesses, such as the Granada Coffee Company and The Sweet Granada also offer a 10 percent discount to students.
ESU also offers hornet bucks. With hornet bucks you can put money on your student ID card and receive a 10 percent discount on items from dining services and the bookstore, excluding textbooks and software.
