Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Gainesville businesses are getting ready for more foot traffic as students return to UF and Santa Fe College.

Businesses such as Fork and Pasta, Dough Religion Pizza and Midnight Cookies are seeing between 40- and 75-percent sales increases on average since the start of the Fall semester. To prepare, they’re hiring employees and buying more inventory.

Dough Religion, a brick-oven pizzeria on West University Avenue, has been hiring back students who worked last year, said Billy Luecking, a Dough Religion employee. During the Summer lull, many workers leave Gainesville for an internship or to go home.

This works well, as the restaurant experiences a 30-percent sales decrease in Summer, he said.

So far, sales have picked up by 70 percent, Luecking said. Dough Religion has started ordering more food to keep up with traffic.

“We cannot have enough employees during gameday,” he said.

At Fork and Pasta on West University Avenue, staff was prepared to serve more students.

Netta Keiden, the owner of Fork and Pasta, said he started preparing for students coming back at the end of Summer by ordering extra food. He’ll be hiring more staff in the coming weeks.

His business has already seen a 75-percent hike in sales, up from a 25-percent decrease in Summer, he said.

From the start of classes at UF and Santa Fe until mid-September, Midnight Cookies recommends ordering by 8 p.m.

If customers don’t order by then, they may be asked to call back the next day due to the high demand, said John Macallister, a manager at Midnight Cookies. During this time, more employees are hired and those working are given overtime for extra hours.

During Fall, Midnight Cookies, located on 34th Street, sees between a 20- and 40-percent increase in sales and foot traffic from Summer, he said.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox

Great Southern Music, located on West Newberry Road, is barely able to keep up with Fall demand come September, said Tom Llinas, the store’s owner.

It provides musical instruments, instrument rentals and music lessons. To keep up with rising sales, he’s hiring more staff and paying them overtime, he said.

Come September, they expect to work with many UF marching-band students who come in for supplies, Llinas said.

“We are constantly ordering more inventory and more rentals,” he said. “Our new online store has also been experiencing much more traffic. Me and my wife are working overtime, from store opening ‘til close.”

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.