As a mob twisted its way through Campustown on April 8, business owners on Welch Avenue could do nothing but watch the scene of a riot unfold outside their store windows.

Business and bar managers of places such as Subway, Fighting Burrito and Cy’s Roost said they were lucky not to receive any damages considering how close the riot came to their stores.

One business located in the heat of the riot is the Jimmy John’s on Welch Avenue. 

“We were fortunate [not to have damages] that when we opened our front door, that’s where everything was going down,” said Jacob Eklund, manager of the Welch Avenue Jimmy John’s.

Super Dog manager Chad Watkins said it got to be a little frightening being exposed to the elements of a riot like some cart vendors were.

Moving forward

Donald Parker, manager of Subway on Welch Avenue, said while the restaurant was closed at the time of the riot, he does not expect to change the way Subway operates during the rest of the week.

“All they can do is up the security a bit,” Parker said about police activity.

Will Flynn, the manager of Cy’s Roost, said the group inside his bar was all there “to have a good time” and said it wasn’t his customers out in the streets.

“We have our own security and have our full staff in,” Flynn said. “But we also bring in outside protection from places in Des Moines.”

Parker said he experienced the commotion as a bystander, as well.

“I was at the bars last night actually, and they shut the bars down,” Parker said. “We were up in Mickey’s and they told us it was a riot outside and we had to leave. It just made the crowds get bigger in my opinion.”

Kim Hanna, the director at Campustown Action Association, said businesses handled the riot in a way they had planned. Little to no damage to stores in Campustown was found, and owners had control of their establishments.

Hanna said despite the execution by businesses, the cause of the incident was frustrating.

“I think we’re disappointed about how students behaved,” Hanna said. “We’d been working very hard to create a fantastic space for people of all ages in Campustown, and this is kind of frustrating for us.”

Fighting Burrito owner Matthew Goodman is taking a more direct approach to keep his business safe during the rest of the week.

Goodman plans to stand outside of his store, every night for the rest of the week and try to get one-on-one time with people.

“I’m going to be out there and connect with people,” Goodman said. “This community is full of great people, just a few making dangerous decisions.”