Email List to Provide Bargains to Students

Harvard Square’s­ recession-pinched businesses are now targeting students through a new e-mail list launched by student-run business Unofficial Tours.

The e-mail list, which went live on Monday at www.harvardbargainblast.com, is a biweekly newsletter touting exclusive offers for Harvard students from businesses like the bar Tommy Doyle’s and the local hamburger chain b.good.

As extra incentive to sign up, the first 100 people to subscribe will receive automatic gift certificates to b.good, burrito chain Qdoba, or the restaurant Grendel’s Den. All who sign up are entered to win prizes ranging from Red Sox tickets to an iPod touch, set to be raffled off May 2 by the Harvard T stop.

The site is an unorthodox venture for Unofficial Tours, which is known for running cheeky campus tours year-round and for competing with the official Crimson Key Society tours for tourist attention. President and founder Daniel Andrew ’07 cited the company’s success in driving up tourist foot traffic at Square businesses as reason to believe their foray into advertising will be successful.

“Business owners are really hurting for business, locals aren’t shopping the way they did, and students are certainly feeling the pinch,” Andrew said.

With a majority of students on financial aid, Director of Corporate Operations Eduard W. Bogel ’11 said that the student-focused discounts were well-targeted.

One feature of the e-mail list will be student liaisons to work with businesses to create particularly student-friendly discounts.

“Honestly, you’d be surprised at how many businesses don’t know what’s going on with students,” Andrew said.

The project has been in the works since last summer, before the recession deepened.

“When the stock market went down, it’s given even more value to this original idea,” Andrew said.

Some Square businesses have suffered visibly. Z Square restaurant and bar shut its doors after financial and management difficulties in January. But the recession has not prevented several new establishments from opening in recent months, including Sweet, a cupcake store that opened yesterday, and Tory Row, a European-style cafe.

Dustin L. Frankus, the manager of Grendel’s Den, said that business has been looking up and that while they are participating in the promotion, the restaurant hasn’t had trouble attracting students.

“Harvard students are kind of the bread and butter here,” he said.

—Staff writer Lingbo Li can be reached at lingboli@fas.harvard.edu