The Cubby is a start-up company founded by Josh Kim. Tired of spending hundreds of dollars on textbooks, Kim formed The Cubby wanting others to save money and shop smarter over the course of their college career.
The Cubby was meant to be a platform where students can buy and sell used textbooks for the “college student budget.” The trial run was a huge success, bringing in at least 1000 textbooks. But now the start-up has expanded to more than just books.
The Cubby platform aims to be a platform similar to online retailers like Ebay or Etsy, though more specifically aimed at college communities. Items featured on The Cubby website are those that college students need and want, at reasonable prices. For sellers, it is more about the experience than it is the profit, which goes to show how important community and giving back to the community is for the staff members that make up The Cubby.
Although he is not the founder, Isaiah Bedsole plays an important role for The Cubby, as he runs the University of Maine branch. Bedsole is a fourth-year marine science student at Maine. Prior to Kim reaching out to him to request support for his startup, Bedsole aspired to expand his knowledge of marketing. Kim and The Cubby start-up project caught his attention.
Bedsole himself is a poet, but he never had enough confidence to publish or share his work, until he realized he was better off sharing his hobby via The Cubby platform. According to a Northeastern member of The Cubby team, there is no promotional aspect for art students to focus on, and after having spent endless nights on research and discussions with the art departments here at the University of Maine, as well as a variety of art students from different disciplines, Isaiah claims that The Cubby is the perfect place for a student artist.
The “student made” aspect of The Cubby helps promote the unique work and underappreciated skills students have that often aren’t given enough credit. Bedsole claims that there is so much skill out there among art majors alike and there needs to be potential for growth and profit for these artists. Artists need a platform, or as Isaiah puts it, a pathway, and The Cubby fills that need.
Currently, representatives from The Cubby are in search of ways to connect with students and implement student feedback in order to support the lives and futures of the many campus communities involved. The Cubby focuses on bringing a sense of community and pride to the students and members of the UMaine, Boston College, Northeastern, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Colby College campuses. Representatives from each campus work together to brainstorm Cubby-related ideas. What sets each campus apart from the next is the execution of the brainstormed plans. More campuses will be featured soon, as well as new student made items.
As The Cubby is still in the start-up phase, there’s a lot to be excited about. The first step that will promote this company is to spread the word to those throughout the community who may benefit from this service, or even, support the company. UMaine is clearly the forefront of the project. According to Bedsole UMaine currently has around 24 student sellers on The Cubby. In total, throughout the campuses, there are around 70 thanks to Bedsole’s hard work.
Stay tuned by following The Cubby on their Instagram page @thecubbyy. Other ways to keep up to date with what’s happening at The Cubby are to view The Cubby website at umaine.thecubby.com and to keep an eye out for announcements regarding Discord, an internet chat for students to use in order for employees at The Cubby to gain valid student perspective in order to improve The Cubby. The employees continue to focus on the fundamental values of the start-up, community, student minds and creativity.
