Want Ice Cream but Can’t Find Your Pants?

April 5, 2006

By: Adam Bailey

DCist still feels a tinge of nostalgia when we see a bike messenger carrying an orange bag emblazoned with a jaunty green stick man. Is he bringing us Ben and Jerry’s? Is he rushing over No-Doz so we can finish our term papers? Alas, he’s but an echo of the past. Oh kozmo.com, how we loved thee. We have suffered years going to the store on our own, when all we wanted was the good-looking delivery guy to bring us our six bottles of tonic because our idiot roommate thought two was enough for a party.

Don’t fret D.C., as lazy days are here again. Welcome DCSnacks to the scene, Washington’s very own home delivery service for convenience store sundries. Newly available to the non-George Washington University public, DCSnacks (nee CampusSnacks) is open from from 8 p.m. each night to 1 a.m Monday through Wednesday, 4 a.m Thursday through Saturday and 2 a.m. on Sunday to bring you munchies, movies, lube, and more.

The service, started by GW alum and New Jersey-native Matt Mandell in his junior year, has been honing its delivery and inventory management skills over the last three years by focusing on the GW student population. Though still a small business with about fifty employees (mostly local university students), Mandell decided to expand the delivery area to the neighborhoods surrounding GW. The enterprise plans to settle into the groove in their new area over the next several months, and will explore more delivery options in the future. But you lucky folks living in an area bounded by Rock Creek, Q St. NW, 12th St. NW, and the Mall can log on and order all the lube you want tonight.

Anyone familiar with online shopping can handle the process: go the website, fill your virtual cart with whatever crap you want, order it, then rush to the window to wait for the deliveryman. DCSnacks has a good selection of said crap, too. Hundreds of products peek out at you from the well-designed site; used DVD’s are available for sale for about ten bucks, you can stock up on all your hookah supplies, or relive your college years with energy drinks, ping-pong balls, and tubs of frosting. White House staffers take note: DCSnacks can also rush you cigarettes, whip cream, vibrating ring Trojans, and piña colada-flavored lube for any midnight OEOB liaisons.

The site is always expanding its inventory, and Mandell says they try to be as responsive as possible to customer input for new items. As far as settling the bills, you can pay with credit cards, cash, or G-World cards, and should expect delivery in about half an hour. There is no delivery fee for orders over $10.00, but a $1.50 charge for those under that amount, which strikes us as pretty reasonable. Prices aren’t as low on DCSnacks as what you’re going to find at Giant or Safeway, but those guys don’t bring lube right to your door.

DCSnacks is always looking for more deliverymen and deliverywomen, so contact the folks there if you’re interested in earning a little extra scratch. In addition, DCSnacks is extending an offer to DCist readers for buy-one-get-one-free pints of ice cream until April 20th; just use the coupon code “dcist” when you check out. So, get off your butt, go to the computer, then get on your butt again; your order’s on its way.

©2006 Gothamist Media

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