With thousands of ISU students filtering into town each August, business owners often must scramble to meet consumer demands.

Hy-Vee, 640 Lincoln Way, begins preparing several weeks in advance for the return of students.

Bill Detweiler, human resources manager, said the week before classes start is its biggest of the year. He said the store orders extra semi-truck deliveries a few weeks before the students move in.

“There are over 27,000 students moving to Ames and all of them have empty cupboards,” he said.

Detweiler, who is in charge of hiring for east-side Hy-Vee, said the stores often need to hire additional employees for fall. However, he said many are actually students who have transferred in from other Hy-Vees around Iowa.

Monte Streit, store director of the east-side Hy-Vee, said he also orders the nonperishables early and in large quantities, increasing the size of store displays from the summer.

Copyworks, 105 Welch Ave., is also busy hiring and printing as fall begins.

Copyworks manager John Crawford said Copyworks hired 15 new employees this fall.

Crawford said it has to increase its paper orders due to the many course packets that are printed before the semester begins.

This year Copyworks also added three new self-serve copiers to its stock to help cut down on lines, he said.

Copyworks employees, who are mostly students, may also have to walk a little farther to work now that school is back in session.

“Parking spaces are a precious commodity in Ames,” Crawford said.

And there are people who do not yet know all the Ames parking rules. Ames Police Chief Loras Jaeger said there is a significant increase in both parking tickets and traffic accidents in the first few weeks of the semester.

He said the addition of several thousands of people and cars also may bring an increase in theft, as large lots full of parked cars are attractive targets for thieves.

“[Don’t] leave valuable property in cars, especially CD players, radar equipment and cell phones,” Jaeger said.

If possible, he said, students should remove valuables and store them in their houses or trunks.

Jaeger said the return of students also brings an increase in alcohol-related incidents. To counteract this, the Ames Police Department activates enforcement initiatives and adds more on-duty personnel during football games and special events.

“We do get some funding from the Governors Traffic Safety Bureau to support overtime costs,” Jaeger said.

Peter Sherman, manager of The Boheme Bistro, 2900 West St., said his biggest adjustment is the increase in special events the establishment will offer.

Events like this Saturday’s drag show would not get enough patronage in the summer months.

Sherman said he usually hires a few extra wait staff but they tend to do as well during the summer months as in the fall.