When the University of Arizona’s campus quiets down for the summer, the businesses that depend on student traffic face a familiar challenge: staying afloat in the absence of their biggest customer base.

While iced drinks shake and boutique windows sparkle with fashionable displays on University Boulevard during the school year, summer is a different story. 

Summer means a shift in everything – customer base, hours, staff size, even the vibe for businesses near the university.

“It definitely slows down a lot,” said Sadie Ruud, a manager at Boutique 816, a local fashion store. “It becomes more about locals and high schoolers. You just don’t see that same foot traffic.”

At Scented Leaf Tea House, located at the edge of campus, manager Jordyn Raaymakers sees the change as soon as finals end. 

“Business slows down plain and simple,” she said. 

But paradoxically, that drop in customer flow is “kind of beneficial” for them, she said. 

“Many of the staff are students who leave town anyway, so the slowdown perfectly aligns with a reduced need for workers,” she said. 

Challenge for workers

Brody Herrick, a bartender at Agave House, said employees’ hours are cut by about eight hours a week during the summer. 

“Instead of doing like four shifts a week, you drop down to maybe two or three,” he said.

That drop not only means less time behind the bar, but fewer tips. 

“If you’re looking just straight up day-to-day comparisons, I’d say tips drop probably 20 to 25%,” he said.

Even for businesses as corporate as Urban Outfitters, the seasonal cycle reshapes how hours are distributed. 

“The corporation gives us a certain amount of hours that they can distribute among the workers,” said Valentina Velickovic, an employee at Urban Outfitters. 

“So, I usually work two jobs during summer,” she said. 

Taking advantage of slow times

At Agave House, manager Alexa Curell embraces summer as a chance to experiment.

“Bartenders try new drinks, kitchen staff experiment with food items and everyone gets involved in fun projects,” she said. 

The drop in business, she said, is dramatic – but the silver lining is that it gives their team a breather and a tighter sense of community.

“We kind of do little projects here and there that amplify the experience for when everyone comes back in the fall again,” Herrick added. “It’s nice to just take a deep breath in the summer.”

Restaurants like Fuku Sushi experience summer as an opportunity to revamp and strategize. 

“We remodeled our whole kitchen and dining room. It lets us get ready for August when it gets really busy,” said Joseph Diamond Trujillo, a chef at Fuku Sushi who has spent nearly two decades cooking in downtown Tucson.

He’s also using the summer months to roll out a new menu and test Fuku’s future catering program.

“This summer we’re going to put out our new menu and we’re starting a whole new catering program for all the fraternities and sororities. We’re already starting that now,” he said.

And Raaymakers said Scented Leaf keeps employees engaged with deep-cleaning and team projects.

Adjusting to your audience

Ruud said the customer base for her Boutique changes by itself – they just have to adjust their merchandise. 

“It’s less college students and more families or locals,” she said. “So, we change our clothing selection – less party wear, more family-friendly stuff.”

She said Boutique 816 also relies on social media to maintain relevance. 

“We let our staff create content, try on clothes, and post to Instagram,” she said. “It keeps things fun and gives them something to do.”

And while students may clear out, not everyone disappears, Herrick added. Faculty, summer researchers, local residents and even curious visitors from university summer camps help fill the gap, though not nearly to the same volume.

“We get a few students who stick around who have summer jobs,” he said. “And then we get quite a few locals who come back around. They know it’s not as busy with the students and like to take advantage of that.”

“A lot of people that don’t like to have children or college kids around – like the older generation, they’ll come around and discover new things,” Trujillo of Fuku Sushi said. “It brings a different demographic, and that’s a great target to serve.”

And the calm before the academic storm won’t last long, he added. 

“When the students come back, the place gets ruled again,” he said. “But for now, campus becomes a space of quiet hustle, low-key reinvention, and a test of survival for local businesses.”

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.