How Starkville eateries are coping with slow summer
With the majority of college students returning home during the summer months, businesses in the Cotton District are preparing for the slower days ahead.
The Greater Starkville Development Partnership's Special Events and Projects Coordinator Jennifer Prather told the SDN Starkville as a whole sees a decline in traffic in restaurants and businesses with students leaving for the summer.
“Obviously, the summer months are different than the rest of the year in the city of Starkville as we see our residential base decline with the loss of the students,” Prather said.
City Bagel Cafe's Italian Bistro manager Dillon Han told the SDN the restaurant definitely feels the absence of students during the summer months, but the locals help with keeping the place running.
“We keep a skeleton staff, along with the students leaving we also lose a lot of employees, so it works out,” Han said. “The people that stay get the hours they need.”
Han then said the restaurant combats the slowness by running various specials to keep people interested. He said they just developed a new cinnamon bun and they usually make enough for one day a week. City Bagel also has a lot of revolving specials during dinner time.
Bin 612 has also seen a decline in business with college students leaving for the summer.
One of Bin 612's assistant managers Bailee Viverette told the SDN the Bin has been opening later on Sundays because of the slowness.
“We've been opening later on Sundays and once the temperature starts to rise during the summer, we usually stop opening right at 11 a.m. because it gets outrageously hot around the Bin,” Viverette said.
Viverette said the Bin usually cuts back on staff during the summer to accommodate the slow pace. She also said after summer school starts and orientation begins, the Bin can get busy in the afternoon.
“We run kind of a bare-bone staff during the summer,” Viverette said. “When the students leave, it slows down a whole lot around the District.”
Viverette said despite having variable summer hours, Bin 612's hours and specials remain the same.
Despite concern from other businesses, Bulldog Burger isn't all too worried about staying busy for the summer.
Bulldog Burgers assistant manager William Goss told the SDN although he has seen business slowing down, he isn't too worried. Goss said their hours of operation will remain the same.
“We've slowed down a little bit, but not too much,” Goss said. “I mean we're a burger place, so when it's summer time and people are out of school and out of work, burgers and milkshakes sound pretty good to them.”
Prather said the GSDP hosts different events throughout Starkville such as unWINE Downtown to bring in more visitors. UnWINE Downtown is an event hosted three times a year and is an opportunity for people to taste wine and go shopping after hours in some of Starkville's shops and boutiques.
“We work diligently to promote Starkville as a destination for not only restaurants, but shopping,” Prather said. “We try to get creative by replacing the bodies in the stores of the restaurants with visitors that come to Starkville for things like sporting events as well as other events the partnership hosts such as unWINE Downtown.”
All businesses throughout Starkville expect to get busy again once students return and fall classes begin August 16.