Lee Robinson had a problem many college students his age have: he could never easily find daily drink deals at bars near him.
For many college students, budgets are tight, but drinking is still paramount. That's why Robinson, a 22-year-old from Baxter, created TabSaver — a free phone app that displays more than 500 drink deals at more than 50 bars throughout Iowa City, Cedar Falls, Ames and Des Moines.
"I was struggling to find these deals, especially in Ames," Robinson, a senior at Iowa State University, said Wednesday. "Iowa City does a little bit better job than the other college towns, so they deserve some credit, but they didn't have a ton of easily found deals."
TabSaver is a free app in the iOS app store, the app store for Apple iPhones. The app shows an interactive list of bars with deals, how close they are and prices for the drinks. The map function of the app even shows bars and their relative distance to your phone on a movable map.
Paul Gerlich, the 21-year-old co-founder of TabSaver, said Thursday that the app has more than 1,000 downloads on the iOS app store and that it could be available in the Android app market by early next week.
A screenshot of the TabSaver phone app shows drink deals at downtown Iowa City bars. (Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)
Gerlich, of Geneseo, Ill., and Roibinson met in a class at ISU last year and quickly realized that Robinson's idea was worth their time and effort after multiple friends told them they would use an app that helped locate drink specials at bars.
Robinson said he spent much of last winter break developing the app, which has been available since Jan. 25. Though it was initially made for Ames, Robinson said, "I knew right away that the app had to expand and get to Iowa City and Cedar Falls and get to all the big college cities in the state."
Jeremy Kaufman, general manager of Quinton's Bar & Deli in Iowa City, said agreeing to allow the app feature his business was a no-brainer. "It's easy marketing and we have a lot of really good specials, so it was an easy decision," Kaufman said.
Quinton's has been offering half-priced drinks on Thursday for about a year, Kaufman said, and not many people knew about it. Kaufman said the app could help spread the word for his business.
Now almost seven months after the launch, Robinson said he treats the app like a part-time job, working on it about 20 hours a week.
"The only other competing apps that do anything similar to us haven't been updated for years, they're just stagnant," Robinson said.
TabSaver has received four updates since January, with Des Moines being added in July, and college-colored themes for the app — black and gold, purple and gold and cardinal and gold — added in June.
The future for TabSaver, Gerlich said, is slow and steady growth. The app's co-founders have friends who attend Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., and Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., so they're looking to expand to those college markets soon.
Robinson said he wants to expand the app to the Quad Cities and Minneapolis markets in the near future, as well.
As soon as they are able to establish a limited liability company for TabSaver, Robinson said the app can begin to make money by allowing bars to subscribe to the app to offer exclusive deals to app users.
"But I don't want users to pay for the app, ever. It will always be a free app," Robinson said.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...app-bar-deals-iowa-city-isu-student/32052553/
For many college students, budgets are tight, but drinking is still paramount. That's why Robinson, a 22-year-old from Baxter, created TabSaver — a free phone app that displays more than 500 drink deals at more than 50 bars throughout Iowa City, Cedar Falls, Ames and Des Moines.
"I was struggling to find these deals, especially in Ames," Robinson, a senior at Iowa State University, said Wednesday. "Iowa City does a little bit better job than the other college towns, so they deserve some credit, but they didn't have a ton of easily found deals."
TabSaver is a free app in the iOS app store, the app store for Apple iPhones. The app shows an interactive list of bars with deals, how close they are and prices for the drinks. The map function of the app even shows bars and their relative distance to your phone on a movable map.
Paul Gerlich, the 21-year-old co-founder of TabSaver, said Thursday that the app has more than 1,000 downloads on the iOS app store and that it could be available in the Android app market by early next week.
A screenshot of the TabSaver phone app shows drink deals at downtown Iowa City bars. (Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)
Gerlich, of Geneseo, Ill., and Roibinson met in a class at ISU last year and quickly realized that Robinson's idea was worth their time and effort after multiple friends told them they would use an app that helped locate drink specials at bars.
Robinson said he spent much of last winter break developing the app, which has been available since Jan. 25. Though it was initially made for Ames, Robinson said, "I knew right away that the app had to expand and get to Iowa City and Cedar Falls and get to all the big college cities in the state."
Jeremy Kaufman, general manager of Quinton's Bar & Deli in Iowa City, said agreeing to allow the app feature his business was a no-brainer. "It's easy marketing and we have a lot of really good specials, so it was an easy decision," Kaufman said.
Quinton's has been offering half-priced drinks on Thursday for about a year, Kaufman said, and not many people knew about it. Kaufman said the app could help spread the word for his business.
Now almost seven months after the launch, Robinson said he treats the app like a part-time job, working on it about 20 hours a week.
"The only other competing apps that do anything similar to us haven't been updated for years, they're just stagnant," Robinson said.
TabSaver has received four updates since January, with Des Moines being added in July, and college-colored themes for the app — black and gold, purple and gold and cardinal and gold — added in June.
The future for TabSaver, Gerlich said, is slow and steady growth. The app's co-founders have friends who attend Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., and Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., so they're looking to expand to those college markets soon.
Robinson said he wants to expand the app to the Quad Cities and Minneapolis markets in the near future, as well.
As soon as they are able to establish a limited liability company for TabSaver, Robinson said the app can begin to make money by allowing bars to subscribe to the app to offer exclusive deals to app users.
"But I don't want users to pay for the app, ever. It will always be a free app," Robinson said.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...app-bar-deals-iowa-city-isu-student/32052553/