After the closures of Woody’s Oasis Bar and Grill and other restaurants in East Lansing this summer, many students mourn the loss of beloved local eateries that have fueled them throughout their tenure at MSU. Local businesses in East Lansing seem to be in a peculiar situation — while enjoying the patronage of many loyal and adoring students, they appear to play second fiddle, in many cases, to larger chains with branches in the area.
“(Chains are) more frequent around the area, you don’t have to go to that one location,” undecided freshman Sungmok Park said. “Normally I go to a lot of burrito places, Chipotle, Qdoba.”
While fans of the closed restaurants are saddened, some students who happened to never stop by may not have even noticed their departures. Brand recognition and superior advertising pull may help franchises popular to the college demographic, such as Chipotle, Jimmy John’s and Starbucks draw student attention away from smaller operations such as El Azteco, Conrad’s, and Red Cedar Cafe.
“As a small business, we definitely encounter many challenges,” Red Cedar Cafe manager Will Martyka said. “The biggest problem we face is the fact that we are not yet well-known in the MSU community. I suspect that this is in part due to our location.”
Martyka said he thinks corporate companies such as Grand Traverse Pie Company, Espresso Royale, Biggby, and Starbucks have an advantage because “they have strong brands and easy street visibility.”
Whether through choice or not, chains have an advantage at reaching out to the student body. A franchise might be more stable, lower risk and less likely to fail than a wholly-original brand started with no preexisting mold to follow, with the added bonus of not having to rely heavily on self-promotion.
“As a small business owner, it’s sometimes a challenge to reach our students,” GoombaS Pizza owner Gail Sutton said. “They’re familiar with some of the bigger chains because they grew up with them. Bigger businesses can combine their profits from multiple units and reach out into radio or T.V., whereas we just have one single unit.”
“My advertising dollars are small, and my advertising options are limited due to catering to a smaller area,” Sutton said.
“With Moes, I liked the food and the atmosphere a lot,” MSU plant biology student Lauren Selewski said. “Moe’s wasn’t necessarily a small business, so a better example would be Wanderer’s Teahouse and Cafe that was here a few years ago. With that one, it seemed more like a lowkey. ... ‘come in and relax’, so it had a nice atmosphere, but not the best business practice, which kinda sucks because it’s nice to have a little oasis you can go to, relax, drink some tea, and we don’t really have that anymore.”
A fifth year senior, Selewski has been a part of the community long enough to see many an enterprise rise and fall.
“I think it depends (what students tend to want),” Selewski said. “Some people kinda appreciate the more ‘underground’ scene, others they see the name, brand recognition, and they go there.”
While the ruins of other businesses may seem daunting, some local restaurants are not only holding on, but gaining ground. It may take a lot to thrive in East Lansing, but many are up to the task.
“I believe we can compete with any and all,” The Peanut Barrel owner Joe Bell said. “There are economies of scale and the purchasing power that the chains enjoy can put a single operation at a bit of a disadvantage. In this community, people do tend to want to support local and down through the years they have shown us great kindness.”
Small businesses have a very important, symbiotic relationship with the community — without the community, small businesses would wither, and without small businesses, the community would lose a valuable part of its culture, connectivity and identity. The more they support each other, the greater East Lansing will be.
“I have, however, found that once customers walk through the door they are thoroughly impressed with the atmosphere of the cafe, quality of food and drinks we serve, and ultimately the service,” Martyka said. “We have regulars who come in nearly everyday, to the point that I have begun to think of them more as my friends than customers.”
