4A The Tar Heel Thursday, July SI. 1SS0
iinf Baftion
"Things have changed a lot," said Reid
Tuvira, who graduated from UNC in May.
"Rent has gone out of sight My brother lived
here three years ago in Xingswood Apartments,
in a two-bedroom apartment, for J 185 a month.
Now it costs almost $300.
"Students don't have that much money to
spend," he said. "At least, I didn't More and
more students are living three and four to an .
apartment because you have to if you don't want
to pay everything you have for a roof over your
head."
Besides rent and college-related costs, some
merchants said inflation was adding to an
already higher-than-average cost for students
living in Chapel Hill.
"They say prices are going up at 18 percent
now," said Jeff Porterfield, a senior from
Burlington. "That meansl have to have cither 18
. percent more money to spend, or I have to be
careful. And I don't have 1 8 percent more money.
John Woodard, manager of Sutton's Drug
Store (at 58 years, one of the oldest businesses on
Franklin Street), said he thought students were
getting smarter about shopping.
"Students, I think, are being more particular,"
he said. "They're not spending their money as
foolishly, on impluse; instead, they're looking
for bargains.
"If I had to pick a word to describe them, it
would be 'frugality.' "
At restaurants, patrons are ordering less and
making sure they eat everything they order.
"Doggie bags," muttered a waitress at The
Contintental Cafe on Henderson Street when
asked how the economy had affected business.
"They all want doggie bags."
"There just isn't as much impulse buying,"
said a salesman at Roscoe-Grif f in, a shoe store in
University. Mall. "Not as many people are
buying what we call frill shoes. It hasn't hurt
business very much; it's just that when people
buy, they're buying to last They're making sure
they're getting the good stuff."
At grocery stores, merchants said their total
volume of sales were slightly down from 1979,
although higher prices meant revenues were
roughily the same. "Where people would buy a
10-pound bag of sugar last year, they're buying a
5-pound bag now," said a cashier at A8cP Food
Store on West Main Street in Carrboro. "We used
to get a lot of $50 and $60 orders that are now $10
and $20 orders."
The cashier said that shoppers were buying
more generic or "no-name" products. This
spring the store expanded its generic section to
include household products such as paper
towelsr toilet paper and other non-food items.
At Fowler's Food Store on West Franklin
Street, a clerk said sales of non-food items had
fallen off. "When shoppers come here, it's to buy
food," he said. The frills, the coolers and other
non-foods are being passed over.
"They'll always buy beer, though."
Owners and employees of service-oriented
businesses, such as automobile repair
companies, said they had noticed a growing
trend towards do-it-yourself work. "I've been
here seven " years," said - Wayne Clayton, a
repairman for Alexander Ford at 600 Carr St "I
have not seen so many requests for how to
perform routine maintenances as we've been
getting.
A cashier at Huggins Hardware, 107 . E.
Franklin St., said fewer students came into the
store to browse. "There's more of a feeling
among people that they aren't going to spend
money on something unless they absolutely need
it"
Good for business
Hard economic times have meant more, not
less, business for some Chapel Hill merchants.
Students are drawn to some stores because they
offer everyday items at discount prices. Some
products are enjoying newfound popularity as
the economy worsens.
"When things get bad, sales get better,"
beamed a clerk at the Chapel Hill Cycle Shop on
Franklin Street "It's been a terrific sales year so
On the next block, students queued up to buy
books not textbooks, but. literature,
contemporary best-sellers and nonfiction at
The Intimate Bookshop. "Business is up from
last year," a sales clerk said. "Books are a good
buy. They're cheaper than movies, because they
last longer than three hours. And the second read
is free."
Business also is good at the K 8c W Cafeteria at
University Mall. Much of the restaurant's
business in the past has been from older, non
student Chapel Hillians, said cashier Ellen
Whitaker.
Wine and roses
One type of business least affected by an
economic downturn, judging from the
statements of merchants and students, was',
entertainment related business.
. At Chapel Hill's bars, owners and employees
said they saw little or no decline in the amount of
student traffic "The recession doesn't bother the
bar business too much," said a bartender at'
Harrison's 147M Franklin St "If people get bad
off, they'll pay for a drink if nothing else."
Sam O'Mailey, co-owner of Troll's, 157 E.
Rosemary St, agreed. "When it's time to cut
back, beer is going to be fourth or fifth on the
list" he said. ;. ? .; . - ; '-'-V !;' ':
' ' Aiihough both the Rarh Triple and Carolina '
theatres have suspended iheir ? shows for the
'..-summer because of -fewer 'tud ? ;. ;.Si managers of
; both said itteridance during the academic year
was steady, ; : 'Me -rt ' ? 5 ? "V 'Vj " :
-"There arc. twos ways of looking at it," said
Ram manager Stan Miller. "First of all, the
people who like to go to movies are saying, 'Wait
a minute. Do I really want to see this movie, or
am I going just for the sake of going?'
"But at the same time, there are other people
who realize we're in walking distance of campiis
so it's not too expensive maybe not as
expensive as going out on the town. With the gas
crunch and things like that, this type of
DOONESOURY
from page 1
entertainment has an advantage," Miller said.
One graduate student from Winston-Salem
summed up the statements of several students
interviewed.
- "I drive a lot less," she said. "I find myself
earing at home more, and when I go out to eat
with friends, a lot of times I'll just have a salad. I
don't run the air conditioner.
"But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy life. I try
to save money, to not spend it unwisely. But -when
it comes to things I enjoy, I'm not goingto
give them up. ,
- "We all need to have wine and roses
-; sometime." .
- A salesman at the Record Bar at University
Mall, agreed. People are getting choosier, more
cautiousr he said. "They're after quality, both
, in the physical record and the music."
But he said sales were at about the level of last
year. "This is the type thing that many folks
don't want to give up. If you don't eat at a
restaurant for a few nights, you've saved enough
to buy some music."
One other business reporting good sales was
Swensen's Ice Cream Factory in University
Square. "Give up ice cream?" asked a store
employee incredulously when asked if sales were
hurting. "Who'd want to do that?"
by Garry Trudesu
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