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GCU MAGAZ I NE • 17
They sought to create an attractive yet
homey place where students, faculty and staff
come to purchase beverages and snacks but
stay to socialize with friends or study.
The Roadrunner location is expected to
have a bolder, more outgoing atmosphere.
Coffee from a tap
Sure, GCBC will offer drips, flavored lattes and
other traditional caffeinated favorites as well as
energy drinks, teas and other beverages.
But new to the campus scene is cold-brew
coffee that pours from a tap and is so smooth,
in Shipe’s view, its delicate flavors become
detectable.
“You can really taste the chocolations,” he said.
Also new is nitro coffee, so named because
it is made from infusing cold brew coffee with
nitrogen gas, which gives it a foamy head.
“It comes out like a creamy river,” Smith said.
The managers also are focused on
shortening wait times and, to that end, plan to
hire as many as 50 student workers.
“With the right management, this place
could be a cash herd, not a cash cow,” said
Judith Baldwin-StHilaire, a hospitality major
who was visiting the business.
The managers chose local vendors,
including Press Coffee Roasters, White Lion
Tea Company and Fractured Prune Doughnuts.
Did someone say T-shirt?
Anyone who has spent even a few hours on
GCU’s campus probably has gotten a free
T-shirt. The University provides them by the
thousands, and for years, GCU’s tremendous
taste for T-shirts has profited outside coffers.
But now GCU hopes to funnel those
dollars back to the University with its own
business that will make and sell T-shirts and
other apparel and merchandise. “Canyon
Promotions,” a retail and manufacturing
company, is expected to operate in a
7,000-square-foot space in the new parking
garage on Camelback Road.
While GCBC and Canyon Promotions will
market new products, the third business,
“Canyon Exchange,” will capitalize on debris
students discard, Mueller said.
After ground students departed last spring,
Mueller was stunned by the sheer volume
of belongings — desks, stereos, furniture,
clothing and other items — left in dormitories
and student apartments.
“It was 50,000 pounds of stuff,” he said. “If
it doesn’t fit in the car, leave it.”
Instead of getting rid of the items, GCU
officials came up with the idea for the Canyon
Exchange, which will operate similarly to
the popular Buffalo Exchange companies.
Customers will get store credit for unwanted
items they bring to the store and can use the
credit toward items they purchase. It benefits
not only students, but residents in the area
looking for affordable second-hand options.
GCU is exploring possible locations along
Camelback Road for the Canyon Exchange
store front.
The benefits of new business are manifold,
Mueller said: They allow recent graduates to
remain here and work, they help GCU meet
its determination to keep tuition low and they
create an employment opportunity for people
from the neighborhood.
“I don’t think there’s a more God-honoring
thing we can do than create a product or
service that makes people’s lives better and
creates jobs,” he said.
GCBC’s aromatic beverages and tasty treats
also figure to be available to the public — an
off-campus location is already being discussed
— because expanding the franchise is an idea
that is, well, percolating.
From left, Parker Shipe,
Julisa Smith, Brennan
Williams and Lauren Lentini
will be managing Grand
Canyon Beverage Company.