While students are away from campus, Elon businesses located downtown are experiencing a change in their customer demographic for the next two months.
Businesses such as All that Jas, a gift store specializing in Greek life and Elon merchandise, have adjusted their hours due to the lack of students in the summertime. All that Jas owner Caitlin Brooks said the decrease in hours gives the business the ability to catch up in other facets.
“We use the summertime to really catch up on all of the back end and the administrative part of the business,” Brooks said. “Retail is really slow during the summer here and so we do limited hours.”
The store is now open on Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Even though the decrease in customers gives All that Jas the ability to catch up on administrative aspects of the business, Brooks thinks the business would be very difficult to sustain if it relied on in-person shoppers alone.
“If we didn't do group orders and we weren't already working on community group orders and some fall group orders for other schools, I don't know that we could stay in business,” Brooks said.
The change in customer demographic has also affected the Elon Farmer’s Market, which takes place every Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. Bob Thomas, owner of Gardner Bob’s, has been a vendor at the Elon Farmer’s Market for three years and said Elon becomes a different town when students are away from campus.
“When the Elon students go away, it doesn't make it better or worse, it makes it different because there's a lot of locals that come out behind them and the town tends to be very busy when Elon is in session,” Thomas said. “There's a different feel for the market, almost like a local homegrown farmers market versus a little more chaos with all the people getting off school and coming through.”
Thomas also said he noticed a difference in profits.
“There's a big difference between the summertime, absolutely incredible difference,” Thomas said. “I love the farmers market when the students are here, it definitely helps grow my business a little bit more efficiently, make a little bit more money and it's definitely something I rely on.”
Despite the shift in hours or changes in profit that some businesses face when students leave for the summer, downtown pizza shop Pandora’s Pies is grateful to have a large turnout of locals in the summer. According to manager Maria Lester, the main difference Pandora’s Pies sees in the summer is the change in customers.
“I would say the main difference is we get a lot more locals,” Lester said. “We pretty much have a whole clientele of locals that only come out during summertime.”
Pandora’s Pies also has other ways of sustaining its business during the summer.
“During summer time we have a concession stand at a local pool so that helps bring in some extra money,” Lester said. “We also will do more catering events during summertime that also helps with income.”
Despite the increase in local customers and slower summers, businesses around Elon are already preparing for next school year.
“By the time June hits, I feel like we turn around and we're already prepping for August and September,” Brooks said.