NEWS: A Case Study of the D&D Finer Foods x Unplugg'd Collab
With our D&D Finer Foods x Unplugg’d collaboration wrapping up this week, we thought a case study would be a great way to tie things up and reflect on how everything came together!
The project began in August of 2020, when Nathan Graber-Lipperman reached out via cold email to see if the grocery store would be interested in working with Unplugg’d. In accordance with our values of creating mission-driven products through longform storytelling, store owner Kosta Douvikas agreed to partner with us, and the D&D Finer Foods x Unplugg’d collab was born.
NGL screen-printing products from the D&D’s collab
Two months later, we published an article titled “College, Community, and Coronavirus: One Mom-and-Pop Stop Navigates Uncharted Waters,” which chronicled the pandemic’s lasting effects on the local grocery store. Once a staple of the Northwestern student experience, D&D’s was left with a ghost town early on in March, devoid of the student customers that they so heavily relied on. Along with the article, we put out a podcast interview with Kosta about the community that his store has cultivated over time, as well as tongue-in-cheek accounts of patrons and the genesis of their fan-favorite sandwiches.
Last — but not least — the project included a delicious, limited-edition sandwich aptly nicknamed ‘The Unplugg’d. Rounding out the collab were a specially-designed hoodie, long sleeve, and face mask featuring our brand mascot, Stormy, remixed with a retro D&D’s logo as a reminder of the store’s legacy.
Each of these products was printed (save the sandwich) then hand-delivered individually! To our excitement, orders came flooding in, and it was incredibly empowering to see that there were so many people willing to support the same local store that has anchored the community for so long. We were able to raise $1,180.31 worth of apparel and sandwiches, finally selling out of inventory in February.
Team member Kahlil Ellis filling up a bag of groceries at D&D’s
In light of the pandemic, food security has become a more prevalent issue. To address this, the final phase of our D&D x Unplugg’d project culminated in donating half of the profits from the collaboration in the form of food to a local nonprofit organization, Connections for the Homeless.
Even more fitting? We bought all of the food from D&D Finer Foods. In the thick of an Illinois snowstorm, our team members ventured to the store to purchase $262 worth of microwavable food and snacks — in some cases, emptying their shelves of certain products!
What started as a simple story trying to highlight the struggles of a local Evanston business during COVID-19 ended up transforming into real, palpable results as we were able to support D&D’s as well as donate food and volunteer with Connections.
Graph designed by Isabelle Chin
One last note: We decided to track where all of the money from this project went pretty closely so that we can a) improve our operations moving forward and b) operate in a transparent fashion, particularly given the causes we aim to live up to.
It was really interesting diving into the numbers, particularly when comparing to industry norms. For example, with merchandising, if you see a 20% profit, that’s considered high; therefore, between our profits and the profit that went into purchasing groceries at D&D’s, we saw a 46.89% profit margin. That’s pretty good for our second big project!
Thank you to everyone who participated in this project, whether that was through eating a tasty sandwich, consuming our stories, or buying a piece from our store. While the project sold out and we’re not eyeing a restock (for now), we are so grateful for everyone who has supported our mission, and we feel empowered to see what else we can accomplish with this community!
