AUSTIN, Texas — When students at the University of Texas left for spring break this year, business owners expected the typical seasonal lull when school is out. Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit, students never returned and businesses were left in the dust.
"When they don’t come, especially in the summer, we still do OK because [there is] summer school but this time we are not going to have any summer school. It's going to affect a lot of businesses," said Muhammad Imran, the owner of Sam's Computers.
Instead of the typical lag period between May and August, the area has experienced a decrease in traffic since March – two months longer than normal.
Taylor, a student who received her undergraduate degree from UT and just finished her master's program this year, described The Drag this summer as a ghost town.
While she wanted to support these businesses, she had a difficult time doing that because many of them did not reopen this summer.
"During the school year, The Drag is really populated. You will be walking along The Drag, people will be scooting by on their scooters. It's packed and even during the summer, there’s some livelihood to it," said Taylor. "Ever since COVID-19 has happened, it is basically dead."
Imran decided to keep his business open because he needed to continue to make an income for his rent. His landlord granted him three months' worth of rent relief, which he will eventually need to pay back over time.
"I don’t know. It is really hard to see how we are going to survive it," he said.
Typically, Imran will serve 30 to 40 customers during the summer. That dropped by 90% this year.
He transitioned to more online sales and hopes that will be enough to support him until the fall semester when students are scheduled to return to campus.
This is not the first time businesses on The Drag faced difficulties. In Taylor's five years as a student, she saw significant turnover.
"From my freshman year to my senior year, there's definitely a huge turnover in businesses," she said.
Just this last winter, the restaurant Thai, How Are You? shut its doors. The owner said the down period during breaks caused too much financial strain for them to remain open.
But just as businesses go, more will likely continue to take their place in the future as owners try to secure permanent success on the ever-changing strip next door to Longhorn country.
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