Columbia businesses tailor to different groups for summer
Despite slowed student business, Columbia shops make it through each year.
Published June 2, 2010
Columbia businesses like The Blue Note and Ragtag Cinema experience a steep decline in student patrons throughout the summer, but that doesn't mean they close until classes resume in August. In fact, several business owners find the lack of students in the summertime, though noticeable, doesn’t have a negative impact upon their business.
According to 2009's MU Enrollment Summary Publications, nearly 29,300 students enrolled for the 2009 fall semester and attended classes at the University of Missouri-Columbia campus, although only 11,000 had enrolled in classes for the prior summer. Because the Department of Institutional Research doesn't track summer enrollment as closely as fall enrollment, exactly how many students choose to attend classes on site for summer sessions each year is unknown.
Business owners throughout Columbia have learned to prepare for the sudden drop-off of student traffic brought on by summer months.
The Blue Note owner Richard King, said although students play a large role in the success of the shows his venue can bring to Columbia, he prefers not to rely solely on student patronage, especially during the summer. When students and faculty leave for the summer, King has to pay attention to what acts perform at The Blue Note.
“You can't hire a band and expect to pay them if you can't sell the tickets,” he said.
During the summer, The Blue Note plays host to other events, such as Summerfest, a concert and block party series held on Ninth Street. King has recently hired a special events coordinator in anticipation of hosting different events in Columbia.
“We're going to start doing shows at Mojo's,” King said. "People like outdoors."
When it comes to conquering the summer slowdown, King attributes The Blue Note's success to careful planning and preparation.
“If you've been in business for as long as I've been in business, you prepare yourself for (the summer)," King said. "You just have to be more careful."
Channeling business toward demographics other than the college-age group has helped businesses through the quiet summer.
“We get less student traffic, but our family traffic and costume rentals continue to be a big source (of customers) in the summer,” Maude Vintage owner Sabrina Braden said.
Braden said, during the academic year, between 60 and 70 percent of Maude Vintage's customer base is students; during the summer, it drops to 40 or 50 percent. Although students from local universities leave for the summer, Maude Vintage sees sales from students returning home from other universities and local residents.
Braden said she and her employees now welcome the summer, though it wasn't always so. Maude's early summers, nearly 10 years ago, were difficult; lasting through the summer meant taking out loans to cover business expenses. Maude Vintage has since relocated and become more established in the community, which has helped.
“It does become tighter, but it's not a struggle,” Braden said of her more recent summertime success.
She now takes advantage of the summer downtime, working to update the store's interior and displays for the returning crowd in August.
Ragtag Cinema has also attributed its summertime success to a varying demographic. Executive Director Tracy Lane said, because the Ragtag caters to different groups year round, the lack of students in the summer isn't a problem. Lane, who has seen first-hand the impact of the summer on other downtown businesses, said the Ragtag isn't affected adversely when students leave.
“(The lack of students) is definitely noticeable but it doesn't impact the Ragtag negatively because a lot of our audience is an older demographic,” Lane said.