Ames is losing part of its eclectic charm with the closing of two prominent small businesses. Two Campustown stores — Zushy*, 2406 Lincoln Way, and Daydreams, 2408 Lincoln Way — are going out of business, and both store owners have cited the poor economy, among other reasons, as the impetus for their separate decisions.

It’s certainly understandable that, in these times of economic hardship, small businesses in the Ames community may stand to be the hardest hit.

Student tuition increases and job eliminations at Iowa State, coupled with the more massive layoffs some students’ parents and relatives may have experienced, have a huge impact on how much money students are able to pump into Ames’ economy.

When students don’t have a lot of money to spend, small businesses tend to suffer — businesses like Zushy* and Daydreams, both of which served a small niche market of consumers of college age.

Currently, Zushy* carries up-to-the-minute, unique, hipster fashions for young women, mostly items that couldn’t be found anywhere within a three-hour drive of Ames.

Daydreams supplies a wide array of incense, style clothing and home decorations.

Taking their niche market appeal into account, the amount of people affected by these closings would at first seem to be small. However, their absence will have a far-reaching impact on the Ames community.

Without Daydreams or Zushy*, many students in search of the perfect “haute couture” skirt or incense burner will need to turn to catalogs or go out of town, spending their money elsewhere.

While *Zushy owner Liza Kindred maintains her services to the community aren’t over, her past services have been commendable. A recent promotion at *Zushy gave customers $10 off any pair of jeans if they brought in a new or slightly used bath towel to donate to the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support (ACCESS).

*Zushy created many opportunities for ISU students. Their far-out fashion shows gave students something interesting to do in their free time while enabling them to check out the latest styles in a way most Midwesterners would never witness otherwise (maybe Ames isn’t so “boring” after all). Fashion design majors at Iowa State never had so much opportunity to locally display their work outside of school-sponsored functions. *Zushy gave Ames designers an outlet for expression and, in time, could have been a place where these students could build names for themselves.

For being so far away from any “real” fashion metropolis, *Zushy lent Ames a flair that could have made us famous. It is sad to see *Zushy and Daydreams go. We wish their owners the best of luck in the future.