Businesses ready for influx of Southeast Missouri State students

Traffic in Cape Girardeau just got a little heavier and local businesses a little busier: Students are returning to Southeast Missouri State University.

Freshman move-in day began Thursday, and students — approximately 3,000 of them — will continue moving into campus dormitories through the weekend.

On Monday, classes begin in earnest, bringing many more off-campus students into town. And local business owners are ready.

Southeast Missouri State University students move in Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016 at Towers Complex.Fred Lynch ~ Southeast Missourian

On campus, the various restaurants run by Chartwells are ready to take on the swarms of students.

Several dining options remained open on campus over the summer to serve the community as well as the few students who lived on campus during that time. But when the fall semester begins and all the options open up, the number of employees increases dramatically.

“Over the summer, we have two hourly managers and probably seven to eight hourly associates,” said Jonathon Tanner, director of student engagement at Chartwells.

Southeast Missouri State University students move in Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016 at Towers Complex.Fred Lynch ~ Southeast Missourian

But when school is in full swing, he said, Chartwells will have over 100 associates working in the 10 establishments on campus.

Businesses off campus have reported strong showings despite school being out of session.

“We’ve been growing every year since we opened, and this is one of our busiest summers we’ve had,” said Justin Denton, owner of Burrito-Ville.

But with the students returning, he’s ready for business to ramp up. In fact, he said, it’s already started, with upperclassmen returning to the region and the local fraternities calling their houses “home.”

Although there is a definite uptick in business during move-in weekend, it’s not the busiest, he said.

“It will be busier, but it’s nothing like a homecoming weekend,” Denton said.

As the students return, he intends to increase his part-time staff to manage the crowds.

Local bars are also at the ready as students make their way back to Cape Girardeau.

While the arrival of freshmen Thursday may not bring people in, the return of older students will.

J.R. Beaver, general manager of D’ladiums, a longstanding bar on Broadway, thrives on the return of students, though business has stayed relatively steady in the interim.

“It’s definitely slower; there’s no question about that,” Beaver said, but class reunions, weddings, golf tournaments and other summer social activities have kept things moving in the 57-year-old sports bar.

Having managed the bar for 41 years, Beaver has watched his customers change.

“The town people used to stay around more than what they do now,” Beaver said.

These days, he said, Southeast Missourians tend to move away when they reach a certain age, so students make up a majority of his clientele, rather than locals.

While Beaver has seen students come and go with the seasons, new business owners such as Julie Malone are looking forward to experiencing their first move-in weekend.

Malone owns the coffee shop STA, which just opened in July and is across the street from the Towers complex.

Malone is expecting a “slew of people” on move-in weekend and has made sure her shop is staffed fully in preparation for the potential rush.

It’s not just restaurants and bars feeling the effects of university students returning to campus.

The lines at local grocery stores and department stores are filled with families stocking up on last-minute dorm necessities.

Clothing stores, too, are feeling the excitement.

Marla Teter, owner of Plato’s Closet, opened her Cape Girardeau store just as the students left in May.

Teter said business has been “great” over the summer months, but having observed how traffic changes when school resumes in her other stores, she expects a pickup soon.

“We usually see that, especially freshmen, want to completely revamp their wardrobe,” Teter said. “They start seeing, once they get to campus, what kids are wearing, and they want to redo their closet.”

For their part, the students, too, are looking forward to getting back to businesses around campus.

On Thursday, dozens of returning students were on hand at the various residence halls, helping incoming freshmen move in.

While it’s certain the students frequent a variety of businesses around town, their mindset was decidedly singular when it comes to the places to which they’re looking forward to returning.

“I’ve already been to Burrito-Ville,” junior Lari Spitzer said, less than 24 hours after returning to campus.

Having spent the summer in Bernie, Missouri, Spitzer was excited to return to Cape Girardeau, where dining options abound. And she said she wasn’t the only one.

“I was there at a weird time, and it was still pretty full,” she said.

Third-year student Byron Brownlee also expressed excitement about getting back to Burrito-Ville as he took a break from moving incoming freshmen into Vandiver Hall.

Senior Cole Davis said he missed the Mexican restaurant Muy Bueno while he was away for the summer.

“They have good food and good hospitality,” Davis said. “And now I’m hungry.”

At Dearmont Hall, junior Jake Ranken anticipated making his way downtown to Cream of the Crust, an ice-cream parlor on Spanish Street.

“It’s our go-to place when we come back to town,” Ranken said. “We’ve been going there since freshman year.”

Junior Laura Bauman also anticipated going downtown, particularly to Katy O’Ferrell’s and Port Cape Girardeau.

While many students anticipated hitting all their favorite stomping grounds upon returning to school, senior Josh Bailey had a different mindset.

There are many places he has not yet visited in his years as a student at Southeast, he said, such as Sands Pancake House and Chocolate Works.

Now, with only months left before he graduates in December, he is faced with his own personal graduation “bucket list.”

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630