Even though the University of Missouri’s full-time enrollment has fallen by about one thousand students in the past ten years, local businesses say there’s only been a small drop-off in their summer revenue. Goldie’s Bagels owner Amanda Rainey said her shop loses both staff and customers, but tries to make up the losses by offering different menu items to get people in the door.
“We also take the time during the summer to do more specials because we’re a little slower and we have a little more time and energy,” Rainey said. “We take advantage of the beautiful local produce from some local farms.”
Rainey also looks at past summers’ numbers to determine how many bagels she needs to prepare each day. She says most of the lost sales come on weekends, and that weekday business is fairly consistent.
At Hitt Records, a record and vinyl shop that has been in operation since 2012, co-owner Taylor Bacon said until very recently, the migration of students had been a cause for concern.
“We used to see a pretty significant dip,” Bacon said. “But with physical media being popular, it didn’t really slow down last year.”
University of Missouri officials said summer class enrollment the last few years has averaged 11,000-12,000, with around 80% of them studying in-person. Still, Bacon is prepared for a dip this summer. He attributes that to the rising cost of living.
