Oakland shops adjust for student move in

It’s a quiet summer day, and the handful of visible students walk up and down Forbes Avenue,… It’s a quiet summer day, and the handful of visible students walk up and down Forbes Avenue, casually stopping to gaze into shop windows.

Fast-forward to August 22, better known as the first day of freshman move-in. Suddenly students swarm Forbes Avenue, flocking to Oakland’s numerous restaurants and fast food eateries en masse.

To many, this change in atmosphere may cause worry or perhaps fear. However, the crowds don’t make local business owners sweat too much.

On Oakland Avenue, Quiznos manager Shauna Kelley said she hired four more employees to keep up with the student crowds.

“In the summertime, we don’t really have that many people,” she said, referring to the amount of customers interested in a toasted sub.

Kelley said that more sandwich-making supplies had been ordered for move-in week as well.

Quiznos also stays open an extra hour during the school year. The sandwich shop remains open until 10 p.m. seven days a week for college-aged night owls.

Comcast, a corporation not directly on campus but close to all off-campus dwellers’ hearts, prepares for move-in starting in July.

“College students want their Internet connection ASAP,” said Bob Grove, a Comcast spokesman.

Grove said Comcast officials stocked up on DVRs, set-top boxes, digital adapters and modems.

Comcast also prepared for move-in by sending two on-hand technicians to Oakland on Centre Avenue and to Ruskin Hall.

“It’s a very, very busy time for us,” Grove said. “There’s a lot of advanced planning that goes into it.”

Andy Hardie, the owner of Oakland’s ice cream staple Dave and Andy’s, stood fixing the entryway freezer on Monday afternoon, discussing the ups and downs of the ice cream biz.

“It’s funny because we definitely increase a little bit,” he said about post-move-in sales.

Hardie said he thought the fall increase was strange because he would imagine students would be sick of ice cream after a whole summer to enjoy the treat.

However, he said, when spring hits, business skyrockets.

“You just get swamped,” he said, describing the line that can wrap out the door and around the side of the building onto Atwood Street.

Although ice cream sales usually peak after winter breaks, Hardie said he noticed that sales went up 25 percent during move-in week compared to the week before.

Aside from making more homemade ice cream to keep up with the crowds, Hardie said he did not do much other preparation.

“[We] try to get by with what we have for the summer,” he said, referring to the staff, which stays consistent in numbers.

Hardie said he felt it was unfair to hire new employees for a month and a half before sales drop again, the cold weather hits, and they are no longer needed.

While Dave and Andy’s and Quiznos reported a noticeable spike in sales, Primanti Brothers day manager Jason Garasich said he did not.

But Garasich did say that restaurant had to adapt to student employees beginning classes. The eatery hired an extra employee due to new, limited availability of current employees.

Besides employment alterations, Garasich said he cuts the same amount of potatoes in preparation for french fries whether it’s summer or fall.

“We prepare the same way 24/7,” he said. “With us being the biggest tourist attraction in Oakland, preparation does not increase tremendously at the start of the school year.”