When Beth Hedges, marketing senior, came to OU four years ago, she admits she wasn't exactly drawn to Campus Corner. However, she has recently been spending a lot of her time there.

"There was just a lot less on Campus Corner in terms of restaurants and bars and everything," Hedges said while sipping coffee and studying at the Gourmet Vue Specialty Bakery and Espresso House Thursday afternoon. "When [Louie's Deli and Bar] and [Al Eschbach's Hall of Fame Sports Bar and Grill] opened, a lot more people were willing to come up here."

Hedges said she often studies at the new coffee shops while working at Hideaway Pizza several days a week, and hitting the bars with friends on weekends.

"I've been to I think almost every bar on Campus Corner," Hedges said.

Hedges is one of many students who have been frequenting Campus Corner more often over the past few years.

Many Campus Corner businesses have reported increased sales and traffic, and most of the storefronts that were vacant three years ago are now filled, said Rainey Powell, Campus Corner Merchants Association president and owner of several properties on the corner.

Chuck Sweet, president of Norman MidFirst Bank and previous president of the Campus Corner Merchants Association, attributed the growth to more local owners who are moving onto the corner.

"In the past, businesses were owned by folks that maybe lived out of state and maybe didn't have much interest in the revitalization of Campus Corner," he said.

Sweet estimated that some longtime merchants have seen a 15 to 20 percent increase in business over the past few years since the new shops and restaurants began filling vacancies on the corner.

Nightlife on the corner has been an especially big area of growth. Within the past year and a half, three new bars-Louie's, Al Eschbach's and Malone's-have opened on the corner. Students and store managers said the boom led to new student interest in the area.

"Now that there's Al's and Malone's, there's more bar-hopping," said Brandon Kistler, general manager at Louie's.

Other managers said the concentration of bars in one area provides a new option for students' nights out.

"It seems like the kids aren't going to the city as much because they have a general area they can go to [in Norman]," said Stacey Baxter, general manager at Al Eschbach's Hall of Fame Sports Bar and Grill.

Dylan Motley, architectural engineering senior, said he and his friends come to Campus Corner two or three nights a week. A typical night starts at a friend's house before moving onto the corner around 10 p.m. and winding up at another corner business early in the morning, Motley said.

"Usually about two o'clock in the morning I either get to walk to a friend's house that's about a mile away, or I walk [to Pita Pit] and get some food," he said.

Sandy Truong, architecture junior, said she goes to the corner to shop or to run errands during the day. She said she has noticed more OU students doing the same in recent years.

"It seems a lot livelier now," Truong said. "A lot more young people are running around the streets."

Harold's General Manager Becky Isaacs said her business benefits from students like Truong, and credited new stores with piquing customers' interests.

"In the past two years, we've had increases over our last year's sales and over our sales plans," Isaacs said. "The additional merchants that have moved to Campus Corner have really helped to draw people here."

Not all Campus Corner businesses have seen a steady upward trend. Sales at OU merchandise vendors, like Balfour's University Spirit store, The Apothem and OU Authentic are more likely to fluctuate with the fortunes of OU athletic teams, Sweet said.

"As the university goes, especially the athletics, so goes the corner," he said.

Balfour's co-owner Grover Ozmun said his business did very well during this season's Big 12 Championship, but sales fell off when OU lost at the Orange Bowl.

"We had the best December we've ever had," Ozmun said. "Christmas was dynamite clear up until we lost the game."

During the regular football season, crowds flood corner businesses on game days. Motley, who has lived in Norman all of his life, said he noticed a big increase in Campus Corner traffic on those days in the past few years.

"I came for game days [before going to OU], but it never seemed as busy," he said. Now, "it's nice to see actual people down here."

Sweet said the merchants' association hopes to build on the growth by hosting events like the upcoming Taste on the Corner, a food and art festival planned for May.

"We expect to continue to do this type of thing on a quarterly basis [as] something to help traffic on the corner during off-season football and basketball," he said.
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