Bloomington restaurants are rebounding after a slow summer.
Over the summer, Bloomington restaurants experienced less traffic because of fewer students and fewer employees.
However, Ray McConn, owner of Mother Bear’s Pizza, said IU’s annual Welcome Week often marks the end of the college town’s businesses' dry season, cramming not only Bloomington parking but the seats of restaurants, too. McConn has owned Mother Bear’s Pizza, which has two locations in Bloomington, for 51 years and knows how to navigate the business cycle of diminishing clientele.
“When students are back, the first 10 days are a bonanza, business is 25, 35, even 45 percent more,” McConn said. “You get your parents down here, and you end up stocking way more.”
According to McConn and Jessica Robinson, a manager for Hartzell’s Ice Cream, the rush of students signals businesses made it through the summer and now need to stock up. Robinson said compared to the summertime, when the shop decreases its staff to a three-man student crew, they’re able to up their staff back up to a five-man student crew during the school year.
“We made it through very, very good business days, even in the daytime,” Robinson said. “But I wasn't fully prepared.”
But why do Bloomington businesses experience this slowdown during the summer?
“10-15 years ago, it was difficult in Bloomington summers, as we had to cut staff in half,” McConn said. “It was rough to get through the summer until students came back.”
The summer drought is unsurprising, with IU-Bloomington’s student body matching approximately 65% of Bloomington’s overall population, according to IU’s Statistics page and the 2020 U.S. Census. With summer months enticing locals to vacation and much of the student body heading home, small businesses struggle.
Rune Bothwick, a manager for Nick’s English Hut, a Bloomington bar, located on Kirkwood Avenue, uses less manpower during the summer.
“When it comes to summertime, not needing the same manpower as we do during the school year, is a drastic change,” Bothwick said.
Julian Davila, a bartender at Nick’s, said that staff are cut earlier during shifts so that the restaurant isn’t taking the expense of unneeded workers for summer nights.
This isn't out of the ordinary for restaurants, according to a national survey of over 600 service restaurant owners and managers. The Touch Bistro 2024 annual State of the Restaurants Report found 25% of restaurants reduced the number of staff on shifts due to economic hardships in the food service industry.
These restaurants are also primarily staffed by students. McConn keeps veteran students who live in Bloomington on Mother Bear’s staff for the summer and opens part-time positions during the school year for students to fill. Mother Bear’s managers are long-time employees.
“My least veteran managers have worked for at least 10 years,” McConn said, “[The] managers are extremely knowledgeable and have been through the war so to speak.”
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to accurately reflect when Mother Bear's Pizza reduced its staff.
