Angela Kuciban spent the first week of classes cleaning the paint off windows at All-American Pita and preparing it for potential buyers.
Customers who called the store heard a somber message from Kuciban, the store's owner, on the answering machine, which said All-American Pita, 553 E. Grand River Ave., was closed.
The shop is one of several businesses that shut down or is moving out of the downtown East Lansing area. A slew of failed ventures has left holes in the Grand River Avenue business locale and left students with a smaller selection of specialty stores.
Other establishments - Our Buddy's Deli, Kilwin's and Chicken Heads - have closed their doors since students left for winter break. In addition, Lower Level is scheduled to close its doors later this year.
All-American Pita closed in early January rather than moving into the spot formerly occupied by Our Buddy's Deli, 323 E. Grand River Ave., as planned.
She said it became impossible to stay at their location because of city taxes and rent - not slow business.
"The business was going up," she said. "We had a good base clientele, but we had so much previously incurred debt."
Kuciban said previous management had caused problems the business couldn't recover from.
"I don't want the business to leave East Lansing," she said. "It has been here so long, we are trying to sell it."
Jim van Ravensway, East Lansing's director of planning and community development, said the turnover of businesses downtown is part of the cycle of small business.
"You always hate to see a store close," he said. "But on the other hand, it's not unusual for that to happen. Most shopping centers will have between a 5 and 7 percent vacancy rate, just because of the turnover rate of small businesses."
The loss of these business means lost property tax revenue for East Lansing. Businesses are taxed for equipment used for operation, and the city maintains its tax revenues for properties housing businesses.
Van Ravensway says the recession had a significant amount to do with several businesses closing shop, and suggested an overloaded market added to the problem.
"Maybe there is too much competition, particularly in food service in downtown East Lansing," he said. "For every small business that closes in downtown East Lansing, there are several others that are doing just fine."
The loss of businesses on Grand River Avenue also means fewer options for students. Marketing junior Mike Grindem said he enjoys the variety of what East Lansing businesses have to offer.
"It was more fun to go somewhere I couldn't go at home, or anywhere else for that matter," he said. "It's sad that more and more big chains are moving into East Lansing. Although it's good in some ways to give it a hometown feel, it's taking away from the city."
DTN Management Co. real estate agent Tom LeBlanc said there are restaurant chains interested in East Lansing, but the city lacks appropriate locations.
"East Lansing doesn't have any additional liquor licenses available," he said. "The atmosphere isn't agreeable to bringing more (restaurants) to East Lansing."
LeBlanc said the 9,300 square foot vacancy left by Tower Records, 115 E. Grand River Ave, in May 2001 will have a new business this week. LeBlanc would not disclose who is filling the largest vacancy in downtown East Lansing, or when the business plans to move in.
Dan Falconer, owner of Lower Level, 611 E. Grand River Ave., Suite 100, said he plans to close his store by June at the latest.
"Unless you can sell at used CD prices, it's hard to compete against the Best Buys and the file sharing right now," he said. "It is not the same industry it was a few years ago. It's tougher for a record to survive, especially in a college town now.
"I don't feel bad about moving away, the store never really lived up to my expectations," he said. "I am ready to move on."
Casey McNenly can be reached at mcnenlyc@msu.edu.
