Columbia, South Carolina, boasts a vibrant nightlife, with restaurants, bars and clubs spread throughout the city’s various neighborhoods. From the Vista to Five Points, college students gather almost every night during the fall and spring semesters, adding their own energy to the city.
But what happens to Columbia's businesses during the summer months when most students pack up and leave?
Districts like Five Points can experience steep declines in patronage during the summer. John Sears, the co-owner of Jake's, said the summer months get very slow for the bar.
“A lot of seniors stick around. The rest of May is generally pretty good, and June is starting to get slower. Pint Night is still pretty busy on Wednesdays. And then Friday and Saturday night, the weekends, are pretty busy. But the off days get pretty slow for sure,” Sears said. “I'd say July is probably our worst month of the year. It just kind of slowly starts to trickle down.”
Sears said Jake’s isn’t the only bar in Five Points that starts to see a decline in customers when most students leave the city. Nights like Saturdays and "thirsty" Thursdays, which traditionally have the area packed with people, do not see the same amount of traffic during the summer.
“Jake's, obviously being a lot of college students, gets pretty slow. Five Points in general, especially kind of now coming into July, will definitely be pretty slow,” Sears said. “I think the whole city does (slow down)."
Nick Knighten, the front-of-house hourly manager of Kaminsky’s Dessert Café, said other districts like the Vista are similarly hit with a wave of slow business but do get to capitalize on the city’s tourism.
“From what I've noticed, our sales have dropped about half of what we were doing before,” Knighten said. “We definitely see a huge decline in the 20 to 25 crowd, and our clientele is a lot more family-based during the summer, especially in the Vista… now, that said, when an event is going on in the city during the summer, we definitely pick back up.”
Events like Outfest Columbia, Soda City Market and concerts at The Senate and Township Auditorium are just a few occasions that keep foot traffic flowing through the Main Street District and the Vista.
Even with the boost in patronage, Knighten expressed that summer in Columbia can also cause staffing issues for both the front and back of house.
“Our tipped employees like our bartenders and our servers during the school year portion, they're making plenty of money, but then when summer hits, some of the kids do go home that work here,” Knighten said. “Pretty much half of our staff ended up going home for the summer. That's another challenge that we experience here is we have to restaff for the summer. So we have some people that work here right now that are only working here for the summer, and then we have some people that only work here during the school year.”
But not every establishment faces these issues. For restaurants like Stoner's Pizza Joint, located in the Main Street District, staffing is also cyclical along with patronage. William Morris, a consultant of the board that owns Stoner's Pizza Joint, said the seasonal cycle sometimes solves itself.
"During the summer, the main stores that are affected by the students going home are the college sites. So they go home, and we drop off (in patronage). But we don't have to really lay anybody off because we've got employees who are students. So when they go home, they take off two or three months to go home," Morris said. "And then the cycle comes back around and they just come back in, step back in where they used to be. So it's a perfect fit."
Morris said Stoner's Pizza Joint doesn't reduce its deals and incentives for customers, despite seeing a dip in patronage. He added that, even with the lull, it's important to be present in the community
"We've got a $4.20 (deal) right now that's killing it. It's a 10-inch pizza, which has six slices... for $4.20. I got people walking in, buying five at a time. So you know, it works really well... At Lake Carolina, we do slices on Thursday because we have a farmers market. We do things like bring the USO in and let them set up out front to make money," Morris said. "From the students to Lake Carolina, everywhere that I go, we were with schools, we were with churches... We want to be a part of it, and we want to be involved."
Not all students leave the city for the summer, though. Austin Jordan, a fourth-year global studies and German student, is living and working in Columbia this summer and said the emptiness in the city is apparent.
“I mean, as a student, there's a lot less to do. A lot of people have gone back home,” Jordan said. “Two of my four roommates are back home in their home cities for the summer. And most people, especially my roommates that are from up north, prefer to go back home for the summer because there are more jobs, there are more people and things to do, honestly.”
With more limited options for nightlife and fewer peers to share the experience, having a night out on the town can be much harder during the summer, Jordan said.
“I have gone out much less throughout the summer. Mostly, as a student, I'm working to save money for the school year so I can go out and do things during the peak hours during the semester,” Jordan said. “Obviously, a lot of my friends I have are not living here during the summer, so it's kind of harder to go out alone.”
While business dies down for many of the restaurants, bars and clubs of Columbia during the summer, Sears said he sees the year as cyclical and does his best to prepare for the ups and downs of each season.
“Columbia is a seasonal town, for sure. December and January get super slow, and like I said, July gets super slow, so you kind of got to just prepare,” Sears said. “I think I've owned Jake's for about 15 years now, so we're used to the business cycles at this point, and you just staff leaner. You got to just kind of get as lean as possible for the down times, and then the spring and the fall certainly make up for it.”
