This summer while the streets and campus of N.C. State may look barren, the local businesses surrounding the University continue to carry on business as usual. Considering the demographic that sustains many of these businesses is on break, summertime means a time of survival for these shops and restaurants.
“It hasn’t been too bad this week,” Wes Gibson, a server at East Village Bar and Grill, said. “Memorial Day was a little slow, but last night you wouldn’t have been able to find a parking spot.”
For many college campuses around the U.S., when summer rolls around and the student migration begins, restaurants are usually among the first businesses to feel the blow of the vacation season. Some, like East Village, have the fortune of an even flow of local and non-collegiate patrons.
“We have a pretty diverse crowd,” Gibson said. “It keeps our business a little more consistent over the summer than those that are much closer to campus.”
However, not every business is feeling the heat that summer has brought on. The Hillsborough Street Community Service Corporation is busy organizing events working with students, faculty, businesses and anyone who considers themselves to be part of the community that is Hillsborough Street.
“We try to attract businesses to Hillsborough Street and thereby bringing clients to the businesses,” Jeff Murison, executive director, said.
Not only does the Hillsborough Street Community Service Corporation find a way to keep itself busy during the summer, but it also finds activities and projects that students remaining in Raleigh can participate in as well.
“This summer we’re working on a program that goes on the first and third Thursday of the month,” Murison said. “There will be a free movie playing and everyone is welcome to bring blankets. The admission is free and there will be free popcorn being handed out.”
Last September Murison organized the street festivals Live it Up Raleigh and State Patty’s Day, a play-off of St. Patty’s Day.
“We’re trying to find unique opportunities all year long. It’s all about finding the right niche,” Murison said.
Activities aside, there still remains the option of sticking around and getting a summer job or internship. The Hillsborough Street Community Service Corporation has taken on interns from N.C. State.
“Student occupancy in the housing off-campus is in the 75 percent range,” Murison said. “There are still plenty of students that are around campus, just not on campus itself. They are all either having jobs or going to internships.”
Murison said the University provides a large portion of revenue for the street, but the businesses have extended beyond just N.C. State to maintain this business.
Salah Youssef, owner of Reverie Coffee Den, across the street from D.H. Library, still maintains regular store hours despite summer vacation. According to Youssef, business is down during the summer, but full-time University faculty still patronize consistently.
“Business has been pretty good, but a little bit has changed with people going away,” Youssef said. “All the staff from State is still here. A lot of residents are still here. We never change our hours at the shop. Business—it’s a little decrease, but the University will keep on going. We don’t have that rush between classes, so it’s more relaxed.
Rashid Sassa, second manager of Jasmin Mediterrean Bistro, said the restaurant’s main goal is to diversify its clientele.
“Since May, when the spring semester was over, we were low for a couple of weeks,” Sassa said. “But with summer classes, we have picked up a little bit. The summer is a slower time, definitely, but more Raleigh locals come out to eat. But throughout the year, I would say that students make up 60 to 70 percent of business.”
