Senior Shane McCaghey founded Vulture Bikes LLC, a used-bike business, as well as Glizzy Guys, a business that sells hot dogs, burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Photo by Penh Alicandro ’22
Eckerd College senior Shane McCaghey started selling sneakers online from his home in Wilton, Connecticut, when he was a first-year student in high school. He would find a pair of discounted Nike Air Jordans and resell them for a small profit. It was 2017, and Shane was just getting rolling.
In 2021, he moved on to Eckerd, where that same year he founded Glizzy Guys, a business that sells hot dogs, burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches on campus. He began small—cooking outside on a Weber grill his grandparents had given him. But since Glizzy Guys is the only on-campus food option for late-night parties, he now sells out of a food truck. When he started, he typically made about $180 a night. Now he makes well over $1,000. He also sells food at sporting events and fundraisers.
In addition to turning hotdogs, Shane has sold hundreds of Glizzy Guys T-shirts and sweatshirts; he created and designed the menu, maintains his Florida Food Handler certification and manages the food prep, setup, equipment organization, line placement and ticket-ordering system.
McCaghey (right) successfully scaled up his on-campus business Glizzy Guys with the help of fellow seniors Matteo Morello (middle) and Prue Criscuolo. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Knippen
An economics student with a minor in entrepreneurship, Shane last January channeled his inner Mark Zuckerberg and founded Vulture Bikes LLC, a used-bike business with prices ranging from around $50 to more than $300. The bikes he sells are about a quarter of the price of a new one in the same model. Shane and his crew—including Eckerd economics and environmental studies senior Matteo Morello, who grew up with Shane in Wilton—travel regularly to pawn shops throughout the Tampa Bay area. Shane’s 2002 Ford Ranger pickup can fit nine bikes in the back.
What he buys is brought to a rented storage unit near campus. Shane sells about 20 bikes a week—cash only—and almost all of the sales are through Facebook Marketplace or the Vulture Bikes website.
“Last weekend I bought two Giant road bikes for $400,” Shane said recently. “I already sold one for $330. On the higher-end bikes, I can make $80 to $100. I inspect the bikes and make repairs. Most of them just need a new tube or a small brake adjustment. We’re not bike mechanics. But I never had someone ask to bring a bike back. And if they did, I’m sure we could work something out.
“No, getting people here to the storage unit is the hardest part.”
Why does he spend hours every week checking inventory and cash flow and doing the dozens of other things it takes to maintain two businesses—including managing to write a blog each week about them?
“I don’t know why I like it,” Shane answers. “I’m trying to figure that out. With so many kids and many of my friends trying to get internships and jobs, I find it more interesting and rewarding to do something different for myself. I also like how you don’t have to start with much of anything. I started Vulture Bikes with two bikes that cost me $40. And I started Glizzy Guys with an old grill and $100 in food supplies. The experiment and game aspect of it is really fun.
Vulture Bikes rents a storage unit and sells about 20 bikes a week. Photo by Penh Alicandro ’22
“I definitely don’t do as much schoolwork anymore,” Shane admits. “But I find the time to get it done. And I took lighter classes this semester to see how much further we can take the bike business.”
Still, he has time for some schoolwork. Jennifer Knippen, associate professor of management and coordinator of Eckerd’s entrepreneurship minor, who holds a Ph.D. in strategic management from the University of Florida, had Shane in her Entrepreneurial Experience Lab in the fall semester and will have him in her Venture Creation class in the spring.
“I don’t go out on Friday and Saturday nights,” Shane says. “I work. And I don’t do a lot of fun stuff like going to the beach. But I don’t mind—because what I do is fun.”
