Blend, the famous smoothie bar located on the first floor of the Lilly Center, is inching toward its first anniversary. Maggie Anderson ‘15 had a vision to bring healthy smoothies to campus for herself and friends before she graduated.
“She partnered with Bon Appetite and DePauw, was brought on as a student manager and helped with the whole process," said Jason Rose, general manager of Bon Appetit, DePauw's food service provider. “She designed all the t-shirts, hats, uniforms. ... [She] helped with the menus, sampling the menu, gathering student feedback on quality, texture and visual of the smoothies.”
The Blend smoothie shop is predominantly student-run, and students are given a lot of responsibility.
“There are only two nonstudent blend employees,” Rose said. "[They are] responsible for the ordering, receiving, inventory, opening and closing. ...In a perfect world, we would love for it to be completely 100 percent student run, but that's not realistic.”
The reality of the situation, Rose said, is that “student schedules are so chaotic.”
"We have some students who put in two hours and/or five hours a week. Whenever they can put time in, they let us know there availability and we are able to work around that,” he said.
The biggest objections of having such strong student employee rates, according to Rose, are “those heavy academic weeks: finals week and midterms.”
Rose said he understands that academics are the main priority and that working at the smoothie shop comes secondary. He explained that balancing individual schedules can create some disturbance, but has never been incredibly hurtful for the business.
"It’s finding when they can work, where do they need to be and fitting it all in to make it work and making sure it fits within the budget,” Rose said.
But Rose said the company is willing to work with student schedules because they add a social element to buying the smoothies; students want to stop by Blend to see their friends in action.
“They create such a wonderful atmosphere," he said. "It's wonderful to have those student employees we have working for us over there right now, they're awesome.”
Blend currently maintains the same operating hours that it had the original opening: Monday-Friday from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. While business has been good enough to keep the smoothie bar afloat, it hasn't been without its rough patches.
“Its business is decent. It's doing enough business to justify the means to operate it at this moment in time," Rose said. “There are up and down moments. It’s really hard to try and gage business and the foot traffic that goes on over there. ...if you don’t workout or don't have a class over there, you're not in that building."
In the past, Blend has tried to vary its hours and stay open on big weekends, but Rose said that, in the end, it wasn't worth it from a business standpoint.
“We’ve tried to open for larger weekends like Old Gold weekend and Monon, but there is never a lot of traffic going on over there,” he said. “The traffic doesn't necessarily go to Blend.”
Blend's goals for the future? “More foot traffic and more participation.” Rose is confident that business will reach its dream numbers soon and maintain continuous work “from an operational standpoint [toward] the consistency of drinks.” The quality of every smoothie on the menu may vary based on which employee makes it. Because of this, the entire Blend staff is “working on the consistency of training” in hopes that all the smoothies taste the same across the board.
Rose said that suggestions are always welcome, and Bon Appetit is exploring more opportunities for students to have a say in their beverage choices.
“[Blend is] trying to do away with some of those drinks that aren't the greatest and bring in some of the custom created beverages from students themselves," Rose said. “There's this secret language, if you go there and you're a blend officiator - you know what the secret lingo is to get the drink that you want, which, I think is pretty cool.”
With Hoover Hall's opening on the horizon, Rose recognizes the need to "beef up the offerings at all the satellite locations.” He also wants to expand on offerings for this upcoming fall and have more options for students to choose from besides smoothies. He cites “energy boosting snacks, sandwiches, salads, and entree items” as healthy options that students may expect next year. Rose does not see sodas or syrupy beverages being sold at this establishment because of its commitment to healthy alternatives.
Currently, Blend is working on refreshing the drink menu and publishing a hardbound smoothie recipe book available for any to purchase. The book will feature “the best blend recipes with pictures and cool stuff,” according to Rose, and is projected to be a hit on campus and in the community.