Andrew Shue is among the least likely of Internet entrepreneurs. The former Melrose Place star is certainly not someone you expect to be running websites for moms.
Yet that’s been Shue’s focus since 2006, when he co-founded CafeMom, a networking and community website for moms and moms-to-be. His latest venture is a spinoff launched earlier this year called mom.com, a Groupon-like shopping site intended to help moms (or dads) find deals in their region.
Recent product offers included a one-year subscription to a parenting magazine, women’s swimwear and organic children’s clothing. Users can opt for nationwide deals or focus on local retailers in North Jersey towns such as Millburn, Maplewood, West Orange and Westfield.
A father of five, Shue, 44, says his business is rooted in the days when he first became a dad. “I realized that moms rule the world, and only another mom can understand a mom’s life.” He jumped at the idea of creating a platform where women could network with each other.
Shue, who grew up in South Orange and lives in the Princeton area, claims that mom.com already has 100,000 subscribers. “We want moms helping each other,” he says, but he also wants to support the businesses featured on the site. “It’s moms helping merchants, and merchants helping moms.” In each of the site’s designated towns, local moms acts as representatives, scoping out deals and building professional relationships with local merchants.
The strategy is simple: “Moms are great at trying things and telling people about it,” Shue says.