How bad is it?

Economics professor Larry Martin said the student population makes up a large portion of the customers in small businesses in East Lansing.

“It is a real challenge for East Lansing business since the population falls down in the summer, a lot of businesses here are designed to serve students,” Martin said. “Bookstores, restaurants and bars face a hard time since their target market is leaving.”

Chemistry junior Ashten Lindeman said the only reason she doesn’t visit local businesses over the summer is because of the low frequency of buses.

“With me, because I live off campus and since the bus timings are not that convenient during the summer, I don’t visit the local businesses” Lindeman said. “I used to go to Bubble Island, but I don’t anymore.”

While Lindeman said she doesn’t use local business as much as she did in the fall and spring, she knows of people who still do and doesn’t expect a heavy decline in revenue.

“I know a lot of people who live close to campus and still go to those places over the summer, so I don’t see why businesses in summer would see a change,” she said.

Hot in the summer

For owners of seasonal industries, such as ice cream or other summer-friendly stores, this is the best time of the year to make more money. Even with students leaving the city for the summer, most of these places are anticipating good business this year, including Eric Schmidt, manager at Modern Skate and Surf, 319 E. Grand River Ave., who expects summer to be the best time of the year for the store.

“Summer stays pretty busy for us, it is the time we sell most of our stuff. Students end up using longboards to get around from class to class since the bus services are slower in the summer,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said the company offers skateboard rentals as a seasonal change for students not willing to commit to purchasing.

Dairy Store Operations Manager John Engstrom said its business is weather dependent, with the temperature affecting its sales, adding that summer is the best time for them as well.

Although students leaving plays a role on lost profits, Engstrom said off-campus customers seem to make up for the lack of students at the Dairy Store.

“We do our best business in the summer,” Engstrom said. “Whenever it gets about 50 degrees people come out to get ice cream. It does affect (the store) that 40,000 students move back home, but we do OK during the summer despite that because of the off-campus customers.”

Student-dictated?

Bookstores do their best business in regular semesters, but stores that offer more than just books save themselves from losses over the summer.

Robbin Manor, general manager at Spartan Book Store, said events on campus throughout the summer keep the store buzzing with customers. Agreeing that book business slows down in the summer, she said the rest of their merchandise has buyers interested throughout the break.

“We do really good business over the summer,” Manor said. “(The) slowest part of the year is late May to early June but by mid-June we pick right back up. We still do a strong business over the summer because we are in the heart of the campus.”

Manor said summer classes and events like Odyssey of the Mind, Grandparents University and sports camps keep the store busy throughout the season.

Joe Bell, owner of Peanut Barrel, 521 E. Grand River Ave., also said the summer is a great time for business at his restaurant due to off-campus customers.

Bell said many locals come in during the summer to enjoy the restaurant’s spacious patio seating.

“There are customers who come in especially after the college students leave for the summer, so it balances it out,” Bell said. “Our customers in the summer include family, faculty, staff etc. So the 40,000 students leaving doesn’t make a difference for us.”