The opening of a new Zonies location on Marshall Street has created tension with the long-time location in downtown Syracuse.

The two Zonies stores have clashed over delivery times to campus, as well as the inclusion of the Marshall Street location on GrubHub, a popular online ordering website.

The Marshall Street store opened Aug. 18 with the intent of decreasing delivery times to Syracuse University students. Previously, deliveries to the SU campus came from the Zonies store on West Fayette Street in downtown Syracuse, said Jamie West, owner of the Marshall Street location.

Though students can place delivery orders at the Marshall Street Zonies by phone, the Marshall Street location does not deliver through GrubHub, West said.

Several students who ordered their food though GrubHub didn’t realize their order was coming from the downtown Syracuse store and called the Marshall Street location to complain about the delivery time, West said.

There are currently no plans for the Marshall Street location to go on GrubHub, and the downtown Syracuse store will continue to deliver to campus, said Myndie Young, owner of the West Fayette Street location.

West declined to comment on whether the Marshall Street store will make itself available on GrubHub in the future.

But the difference in delivery times between the two stores isn’t that dramatic, Young said.

“We feel that we (the downtown location) are going to continue to deliver to campus,” she said. “We have hired more staff and our delivery times have improved significantly.”

The West Fayette Street location is located only about a mile farther from campus than the Marshall Street store, and Young said her store is able to make deliveries to campus in 45 minutes, sometimes less.

West said it doesn’t bother him that the West Fayette Street store will still make deliveries to the SU campus.

“My delivery times will be better, so I’m fine with that,” he said, adding that the Marshall Street store can deliver in 30 to 45 minutes.

Shorter delivery times, regardless of which store the food comes from, would be a welcome change for many SU students.

“People used to order Zonies before they went out, and then it would be ready by the time they came back,” said Jesse Fortier, a senior mechanical engineering major.

Daniel Garcia, a senior mechanical engineering major, said he agrees and that it usually takes an hour to two hours for his order to arrive from the Zonies location in downtown Syracuse.

“I do like Zonies,” he said. “It just takes forever.”

Despite the complaints, Young said the downtown store is improving. Young previously owned the Oswego Zonies store in addition to the downtown Syracuse location. She sold the Oswego location last November in order to focus on the Syracuse store and said she has worked hard to improve it, including remodeling the store and hiring more staff.

“We have a loyal group of students, and when they call us, they know what they want and they want us to deliver it,” she said.

But for some students, the delivery times are irrelevant. When asked whether he would order from the Marshall Street location, Garcia just shrugged.

“I might walk down here and get Zonies,” he said. “But I wouldn’t take a chance with delivery.”

Published on August 28, 2012 at 2:40 am

Contact Jessica: jliannet@syr.edu | @JessicaIannetta