Alumni A Decaf Soy Latte, with a Shot of Entrepreneurship Stories You May Like Concoct a Cocktail in Honor of Our Newest Alumni Hotelie’s Line of Plant-Based Fitness Drinks Goes National Lox, Stock, and Barrel: Hotelie Runs Fourth-Generation Food Firm Alum’s Saxbys coffee chain operates on a unique model: its employees—and managers—are all college students By Melissa Newcomb When you walk into the Saxbys on Drexel University’s Philadelphia campus, you’ll encounter busy baristas, a wide variety of coffee drinks, and a food menu offering both sweet and savory options. But what looks like a typical café is really—in the words of Saxbys founder Nick Bayer ’00—“an education company disguised as a coffee company.” In fact, all of the more than two dozen outlets in this medium-sized chain of coffee shops are located on or near college campuses—and they’re run entirely by undergrads. At the Community College of Philadelphia. At each store, the CEO (who manages around 50 employees) is a student. The team leads who set the staffing schedule and control inventory are students. Even the designers of the interior décor? Also students. “Less than 3% of all businesses in the U.S. do over a million dollars a year in revenue,” Bayer observes. “Our students are running a top 3% business before they are even 21. It’s a tremendous amount of responsibility.” Saxbys opened its first location in 2015 on Drexel’s campus in the heart of Philly. At Temple University. It has since expanded to nearby Penn and throughout the country, including at BU and Georgia State. (And yes: Bayer hopes to someday bring Saxbys to Ithaca.) The company—which has just under 1,000 full- and part-time employees—partners with each school to create experiential learning opportunities, with students earning both academic credit and a paycheck. Our students are running a top 3% business before they are even 21. It’s a tremendous amount of responsibility. “Higher education leaders are the experts in the classroom, but they say they desperately need the private sector to meet them halfway,” says Bayer, who majored in government in Arts & Sciences. “I thought, ‘Why not us?’” The connection between Saxbys and the various colleges and universities is so well established that most of the cafés are located inside campus buildings. Stories You May Like Concoct a Cocktail in Honor of Our Newest Alumni Hotelie’s Line of Plant-Based Fitness Drinks Goes National For example, the ones at UVA and the University of Pittsburgh are in libraries, and the Purdue branch is in an engineering building named after one of its most famous alumni, astronaut Neil Armstrong. Since each café is designed by the students at its location, they have unique looks that are often inspired by the local culture. At Drexel University. For instance, the store near UPenn has a Colonial ambience, with dark blue paneling and a white pressed-tin-style ceiling. Drexel’s store has a hipper mood, with a large counter covered in graffiti art and heavy wood tables that were reclaimed from a nearby high school. Although the design (and background music) varies, the menu is similar across the chain. While Saxbys offers the typical breakfast sandwiches, smoothies, and pastries, it’s best known for its elevated iced coffees—which come in flavors such as milk and honey, vanilla bean, salted caramel, and sweet mint—and its gooey grilled cheeses, stuffed with ingredients like buffalo chicken, spinach, and steak. At Penn State. As one Yelper raved about the Temple University location: “This is a typical Saxbys, with a billion drink and flavor options and super-duper awesome staff!” A first-generation college student, Bayer had no previous experience in entrepreneurship when he took out more than $150,000 in loans to launch Saxbys after a consulting job left him feeling unfulfilled. (The business isn’t named after anyone; Bayer coined it to evoke upscale brands like Saks and Tiffany’s.) “I was told if you want to be competitive, you have to climb the corporate ladder at a for-profit; if you want to make a difference in someone’s life, you go into a nonprofit or become a teacher,” recalls Bayer, who has regularly served as an entrepreneur-in-residence on the Hill. “I needed to start a business where I could do both.” Bayer notes that half of the company’s student CEOs share his background as the first in their family to attend college—and that those who have held the job, on average, go on to get their first professional leadership position within a year after graduation rather than the typical seven years. The chain is known for its cold brew coffees. Regardless of what role a Saxbys employee is hired into—including the executive ranks—the first step in the onboarding process is the same: teaching them how to work on the front line. “Even people who leave academia with PhDs to join Saxbys go to café training and learn how to make our coffee and grilled cheese and take out the trash,” says Bayer. “Myself included—although to this day, I am still the worst barista in the entire company.” (All photos provided.) Published July 25, 2024 Comments Mike Tiffany, Class of 1975 2 Oct, 2024 Curious – why was the Saxby’s at GMU in Fairfax closed. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. 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