While some Ames residents may breathe a sigh of relief as the college crowd heads home for the summer months, some area businesses are wondering how to escape the void students have left behind.

“Clearly, with the absence of several thousand students there’s going to be a downturn in sales,” said Ames Chamber of Commerce Director David Moss. “The return of the students to Ames is an event retailers look forward to.”

Tom Northrup, manager of Pizza Pit, said, “Usually we see about a 20 to 25 percent drop in sales and begin relying more heavily upon grade and high school kids to balance the loss.”

At North Grand Mall, Co-Op Records appears to be the hardest hit. “The town shrinks in half in the summer. It easily drops business 25 to 30 percent,” owner Dean Esgrow said.

Esgrow said he has a tough time finding effective business strategies to keep profits up in the summer. “Ads aren’t effective. I cut down on expenses like employee hours and inventory. I work an extra 15 or 20 hours a week in the summer. It’s tough.”

Scott Baumler, ISU Extension associate economist, said Ames releases the totals of its sales tax receipts quarterly to the Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance and the public. For most cities in Iowa, the January, February and March quarter has the least sales, but, by his calculations, Ames is slowest in April, May and June — since 1980, an average of 11 percent lower than the rest of the year.

The second half of the summer session falls into the next quarter, which is boosted by the “Back to School” season. Last year, Baumler said, the quarter outdid the Christmas shopping season for the first time on record.

Sales for April, May and June of 1995 were Ames’ best yet for that specific quarter. According to Baumler’s figures, that quarter had 23.59 percent of the year’s sales, which nearly eclipsed the January, February and March sales — 23.6 percent — for the first time.

Kenneth Stone, ISU professor of economics, said the improving summer numbers can be attributed to “the fact that the university is able to bring in these week-long conferences.” He cited athletic camps, Odyssey of the Mind, and corporate conventions at the Iowa State Center as examples.

Several local managers, including those from The Sports Page and Fox Jewelry, said that ISU does a good job of bringing special events and conferences to Ames which, in turn, creates income for businesses.

“We find that our sales numbers do not drop during the summer,” said Julie Hill, assistant manager of Wal-Mart. “What you find is that the local non-student population seems to come out and shop during the summer months a lot more. I don’t know if it’s because of weather or what.”

Mindy Lehman, front-end manager at Target, said that sales do slump somewhat during the summer. “We do find a slight drop in sales during the summer, but not so much that we have to change our marketing or business strategies.”

Managers of Copyworks, T Galaxy, J.C. Penney’s, Lasting Impressions Tattoo Studio, Waldenbooks, Seiferts and The Strawberry Patch all said they have had plenty of business this summer. Out of 40 Ames businesses interviewed, only 19 admitted a summer income shortfall.

Dave Wagner, manager of Tradehome Shoes, said, “It affects us slightly, but we cater to all ages and sales so it doesn’t affect us as much as other businesses.”

Dennis Gano of Cyclone Liquors estimated his sales fall of over 25 percent every summer and agreed that it would be hard to find a retailer that did not experience a similar drop off in business.

“Any type of retailing feels the impact…the whole town does and if anyone tells you different, they’re lying,” said Paul Harris store manager Deb Kemmerer.

A popular Campustown hangout, People’s Bar and Grill, thrives during the off-season, said owner Tom Zmolek. He said that while his lunch crowd declines during the summer months, his night crowd increases.

“We’ve been busier at night during the summer than during the school year,” Zmolek said. “It’s probably because the students don’t have as many commitments during the summer. They might only take one class or just work.”

Andy Finney, owner of Stomping Grounds, agrees. He said that business between the spring and summer terms falls, but once summer students return “things pick back up.”

Business is slightly different for the movie theaters. Century Theaters manager David Nolan said, “We notice it the first week, but then it picks right up again. Some people in town avoid movies because of the students, so when the students leave, the locals start coming back.”

Arthur Stein, owner of Central States Theaters, which includes all Ames theaters, said, “We’re hurt when the students leave. Summer school means something, but it’s hard to replace that many students.”

—Contributions were made to this story by students in this semester’s Journalism and Mass Communications 202 class.