The leaves are a-changin' and that means gone is the season for ice cream store owners.

As the mercury drops, seasonal businesses must compensate for dwindling clientele.

One way is finding a different focus.

"We're trying to build up the wholesale," said Lisa Belen, a manager for Melting Moments, 313 E. Grand River Ave. That helps the business attract revenue otherwise missing from the lack of warm-weather customers.

In the fall, Melting Moments contracts with MSU to sell ice cream sandwiches at football games and other sporting events. Melting Moments also sells its products to 7-Eleven and local grocery stores.

Wholesaling makes surviving the winter a little bit easier, especially when only a few people come into the store every hour, Belen said.

"We do a lot of cleaning in the wintertime," she said.

Joseph Fawaz, owner of Ice Cream Joe's Kaleidoscoops in Lansing, dreads the winter doldrums. He said business is already down 50 percent compared to the summer.

As fewer people come into the store, Fawaz cuts down on his payroll to compensate. In the summer, he has up to 15 employees, and now only four people work at the ice-cream store.

In previous years, Fawaz has tried to sell new products in addition to ice cream.

He added a cappuccino machine in winter 2002, but it was unsuccessful, he said. By the spring, it was gone.

"Unfortunately, it didn't take off," Fawaz said.

People were stuck in the mindset that it was only an ice cream store and rarely visited in the mornings to sip on a cappuccino, he said.

"In the end, I was in the same situation without the franchise name," Fawaz said. "Luckily, I have the option of closing."

This winter, he said he plans to close during December and January. Michigan's stagnated economy, rising operational costs and fewer customers are tough on the business, Fawaz said.

At other small shops, boards are also going up.

In about three weeks, Tasty Twist, 1307 E. Grand River Ave., will shut down its walk-up ice-cream stand. By March, it'll re-open for the ice cream season.

"It's just the way it's always been," said manager Brian Isanhart, a 1997 MSU graduate.

In April, before the majority of MSU students leave for their summer at home, Tasty Twist has nearly 1,000 customers a day. By fall, that number fades to about 200.

"We'll have a line of customers from open to close," Isanhart said. "Once fall starts, it goes down quite a bit."