As Bellarmine Knights enter the third week of the Fall 2021 semester and are adjusting to the return to in-person classes and living on campus, one has to ask how this sudden increase in hungry mouths to feed has impacted the many locally-owned restaurants and eateries located in the nearby Louisville Highlands, Kentucky’s famous “Restaurant Row.”
With deadlines and all-night study sessions hallmarks of the college experience, it should come as no surprise that the near-dozen coffee houses situated along Restaurant Row are experiencing significant increases in patronage following the start of the school year.
“There’s an increase in traffic and sales come fall. As soon as elementary, junior high, high school students are coming back, but also college students,” said Douglass Loop Heine Bros. manager Adrian Silbernagel. “College students tend to be a little bit older and drinking coffee and tea and stuff like that.”
At a second Heine Bros. chain located at 1250 Bardstown rd., when asked if his establishment saw a similar boost in customer traffic at the beginning of the school year, manager Kyle Kiesel said, “Yeah. Definitely on the weekends. You have a lot of people in the cafe studying.” Both managers have welcomed this increase in customer traffic, citing it as beneficial for business and overall profits.
Some owners and managers of local businesses see the sudden boom in customer traffic brought by the start of the fall semester as an opportunity to explore new ways in which they can serve their customers and their community.
While remarking on the business students bring to his establishment, and how to capitalize on this uptick in patronage, Rock White, manager to Super Chefs at 1702 Bardstown Rd., said, “We would love to be able to offer up some kind of discount. And on the flip-side, we would also offer a creative discount, even for that matter, for students who have a certain GPA. Why not reward those who are doing a little more and beyond?”
Just across the street from Super Chiefs at the Purrfect Day Cafe at 1741 Bardstown Rd., after remarking on the kitten-themed cafe’s status as a preferred place for relaxation and decompression in the eyes of several students, manager Robert Mason said, “In the past, we’ve done a special week of finals for like...free coffee with a paid visit or something.”
It isn’t just students on the prowl for a quick treat or a filling meal that is having a positive impact on local businesses in the Highlands area. Several programs and events sponsored by Bellarmine’s Student Activities Center (SAC) are designed to increase Bellarmine Knights’ awareness of the numerous local restaurants located in the Highlands, to help Bellarmine students better acclimate to their new surroundings.
On Aug 22nd, the SAC sponsored its ‘Taste of Bardstown’ event, which gave students vouchers and gift cards to local establishments and encouraged them to journey out into the Highlands area to spend them.
“With them doing the ‘Taste of Bardstown Road’, I do know quite a few Bellarmine students were going up and down Bardstown Road, patronizing small businesses, which we appreciate,” said Dawn Urrutia, founder, part-owner, and manager of ‘Georgia’s Sweet Potato Pie Shop’ at 1559 Bardstown Rd.
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