When UF’s Spring semester ends, the crowds around campus begin to thin. The Reitz Union lunchtime rush slows, long lines disappear and familiar businesses that spend the school year serving students between classes face a different reality: quieter sidewalks and fewer customers.
From farmers markets to Fall preparations, Gainesville business owners who frequent campus say the slower months are less about stopping work and more about shifting focus.
For many vendors reliant on student traffic, Summer means adapting to the lagging activity on campus and finding alternative customer bases.
For Honey Nitro, a coffee pop-up stationed around campus during the school year, Summer means fewer students but not necessarily fewer opportunities.
Suzanne Underwood co-owns Honey Nitro with her husband, Tim Underwood. Suzanne said student traffic composes the bulk of their business during Fall and Spring semesters. To compensate during Summer, the couple pivots to seasonal offerings and behind-the-scenes improvements while still maintaining a campus presence several days a week.
“There's obviously a lot less traffic on campus,” Suzanne said.
Honey Nitro introduced summer-oriented menu items geared toward warmer weather, including coffee and matcha floats with vanilla ice cream and refresher drinks.
The business is also using the Summer season to train its first part-time employee, add a second cart, prepare new marketing materials and build catering relationships ahead of the busier Fall semester.
“Unfortunately, we have to turn a lot of events down because we are on campus,” she said. “Normally during the school year, for even parties and things, we haven't been available in the past … It's kind of nice that we can build relationships and offer some catering.”
Summer also allows the couple to focus their business on local customers at the Haile Farmers Market, where Honey Nitro operates weekly.
For Gainesville-based Italian ice business B’z Gelati, Summer just shifts its focus from students to community oriented events.
Brandon Grabhorn, the owner of B’z Gelati, said business on campus remains important even as the company expands throughout Gainesville.
“We love UF,” Grabhorn said. "Our goal was always to be on UF campus, however we could.”
After beginning as a single food truck in 2019, B’z Gelati spent almost three years working toward a larger campus presence. Grabhorn said he started catering campus events and operating near Library West before opening a storefront at Turlington Plaza in 2025.
During the summer months, B’z Gelati uses the slower season to book birthday parties, camps, festivals and events around Gainesville. Grabhorn also maintains a storefront on Northwest 23rd Avenue and regularly serves customers at Albert “Ray” Massey Park on the weekends.
“It's camps, it's graduation parties, it's caterings, it's events like Fourth of July — we did the Watermelon Festival,” Grabhorn said. “That's what we do during Summer, besides our storefront.”
For newer vendors, summer break can also be used as a time to regroup.
Le Petite Beignet, a food truck managed by Michael and Michiyo Johnson, began an on-campus trial run this Spring where they consistently sold out of their beignets and coffees.
While the Spring semester proved to be continually successful for their business, the Johnsons aren’t scared of the break in customers. They plan to use the Summer semester to take a much needed break.
“In general, the food truck industry is pretty slow in the summer,” Michiyo said. "It's commonplace to take time off in the summer and either upgrade trucks or go on vacation.”
The pause comes as the business aims to refresh its cart, update branding and prepare for a longer-term campus commitment in the Fall.
Contact Hailey Kon at hkon@alligator.org.
Hailey Kon is a fourth-year public relations and psychology double major serving as this summer's student government reporter. This is her first semester on staff at The Alligator, though she previously worked as a contributing writer for The Alligator and The Gainesville Sun. When she's not on campus, she can be found in the Dutch Bros drive-thru or a Ticketmaster queue trying to buy concert tickets.
