I don’t think it’s any surprise, that the local store owners are incredibly happy to have the college kids back in town for the year. Especially the beer distributors throughout the city, who more than drool at the opportunity to sell large quantities of beer to kids looking to have a great time on any given night.
TribLive.com posted an article interviewing various store owners talking about the growth of their business as college kids from the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University pile into the city and get acclimated to their new lifestyle for the year. It’s an interesting article that can be read in full here, but for you, I have the juicy details of the story written below:
“It just gets better all the way around,” said Diana Bellisario, co-owner of Mellingers Beer Distributor on Semple Street in Oakland. “It’s the first weeks that are really crazy every night.”
Bellisario estimated that 60 percent to 65 percent of her customers are college students. Their tastes become less discriminating as money runs low, said Jaime Hively, her business partner.
“You always know to keep 400 or 500 cases of Natural Light. That’s a given,” Hively said. “You’ll notice that at the beginning of the month, they might buy Miller Light or Bud Light because they have more money in their pocket. But then at the end of the month, they say, ‘I want this because I only have $15.’ “
That is a staggering amount of Nattie light, I can’t even imagine how much of that stuff is actually consumed over the course of the school year. I’ve also promised myself now, that since I’m out of college, I’ll never go back to Pabst, Nattie, or even Mad Dog. It just felt like a right of passage that I went through, and I’m glad I’ll never have to go back.
Food, entertainment and other expenses typically add up to about $2,500 per semester for each student, Point Park University marketing professor Paige Beal said. That translates to $700 million a year for the local economy. About 140,000 students attend 33 universities in Western Pennsylvania, she said.
“That’s a pretty significant economic impact,” Beal said. “The current psychological impact of the flurry of activity is super positive. We are seeing people coming, and coming in droves.”
It’s not just the regular entertainment industry’s that are growing either. The local companies also take on more hires as they know it’s going to be incredibly busy for the year.
This portion of the article describes how a college centric town can increase in population, and while it’s nice during the summer, the money really flows during the winter:
Mary Beth Ackbay hired 20 people in anticipation of the 30 percent increase in sales she expects as students stop by Romeo’s Pizzeria & Mediterranean Kitchen when they return to Indiana University of Pennsylvania this weekend. The influx of more than 14,000 people causes quite a change, she said.
“It will be breathing life back into the community,” she said. “There will be a substantial increase, not just in business but in activity in the town.”
The borough’s population doubles when students return, said Dana P. Henry, president of the Indiana County Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s nice over the summer to have less traffic, but to have IUP back in session — there is no down side,” Henry said. “You know it’s good for the community.”
All in all, it’s a great thing, and I know a lot of college kids who are glad to be back in town, and I’m pretty sure it’s not because they are spending every waking night studying for the big test.
Indiana, PA enjoys the boost from college kids attending IUP.
Wed, Aug 25, 2010
Daily