New promotions for businesses in downtown Andover have recently begun appearing in The Weekender, a weekly infographic featuring student activities happening over the upcoming weekend. These promotions, however, are not for profit and are, instead, freely incorporated for the benefit of both students and local businesses.
While The Weekender remains dedicated to promoting Andover-specific events, the idea of promoting small businesses, by offering students discounts, arose from a casual visit to Uptown Gelato and Boba. Christopher Capano, Director of Student Activities, elaborated on this encounter, explaining how their decision would benefit these stores.
“It happened kind of accidentally. [Stephanie Cormier, Student Program Coordinator] was going to get a boba tea, and she was wearing some Phillips Academy apparel, so the [salesperson] asked her if she worked there and said, ‘Oh, we’d love to do something where we let the kids know that we exist…’ They’re trying to get the word out that they’re there and that they’ll give a deal to some Phillips Academy kids. Ms. Cormier [said], “Yeah, sure, we’ll do that for you.” It seemed like just a nice way to be a good neighbor to a small business,” said Capano.
He continued, “We’re not trying to be in business with these businesses. We don’t take advertising — we’re not looking to make a dollar off of this at the cost of making The Weekender or running student activity events. We’re not actively looking to try and find a way to have a revenue stream or anything like that… Our number one thing is promoting the things that are happening with our students on campus. But if we have some room to add something else to [The Weekender], I think we would.”
Devika Hajarnavis ’26, who used the “Buy One Get One Bubble Tea” deal from Uptown Gelato and Boba last Friday, noted how the promotion incentivized her to visit this store with her friends. She expressed hopes for the Weekender to encourage more of these deals in the future.
“I thought it worked out pretty well. My friends and I all enjoyed the boba. Overall, it was a good experience…I didn’t go in with too high expectations. I’ve only had the boba a few times, but my friends told me about the deal, and we all went together. I didn’t even know the ‘Phillips Fridays’ deal existed. We thought it was pretty good. I think these promotions should be continued and advertised even more,” said Hajarnavis.
Even though Andover offers many events for its students, living in the town of Andover brings added benefits. Capano explained how small businesses and Andover can mutually benefit each other by encouraging students to take advantage of Andover town.
“While Phillips Academy is a really cool place, we’re also a part of the town. So just having a better relationship with town events gives some kids an awareness of something else they can do. The Weekender’s whole point is to let kids know what’s going on. It doesn’t have to be just things that are going on on campus. We’ve promoted 5Ks that happened in town or Clown Town, [the] carnival they do down the hill in the spring… Ms. Cormier and I are both from Andover. We have a little bit of knowledge of the town, so we just try to spread the word,” said Capano.
