Over the past few months, a number of staple Campus Corner restaurants have closed or announced closings for the near future, leading to several vacant properties and one local merchant to question the commercialization of Campus Corner.
Cafe Plaid was the first to go in June of 2015, and the property was quickly replaced by The Meatball House. Pita Pit closed its doors on May 15, and local pizzeria Crooked Crust soon followed, ending its operations indefinitely.
Kyle Wright, franchise owner of the local Tex-Mex restaurant Chimy’s, confirmed in late May that Chimy's was also going to be leaving sometime after the coming fall semester. Wright did not comment further on the imminent closing of his store.
A number of local merchants, some with positions in the Campus Corner Merchants Association, said the closings may have something to do with property prices going up as well as ripples in the economy stemming from gas and energy prices in the state dropping.
Mark Pritz, manager of New York Pizza & Pasta and treasurer of the Merchants Association, said that though his own property payments have gone up, he had previously negotiated his contract in preparation of that and was prepared.
Amanda Meron, manager of the Starbucks off West Boyd Street and Asp Avenue, said she believes there is a bias in favor of corporations on Campus Corner.
“It seems like the only businesses that can survive are corporations because they have more money and more of a following,” Meron said.
Meron said that right now her rent is high, but she did not want to give a specific number.
Meron said that all of her negotiating is done through corporate, and that prices only go up on her once a year due to a “locked contract,” rather than a monthly one.
Meron said that if the local, smaller shops did not get into locked contracts, then they very well may have had their prices raised until they could not afford to stay open.
Rainey Powell, Equity Realty sales associate, owns a large portion of the real estate across Campus Corner, including the properties that were formerly home to Pita Pit, Crooked Crust and Cafe Plaid.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if (Powell) plans on replacing them with corporations,” Meron said. “I think he wants to have campus corner dominated by corporations."
Powell said he does not have a bias toward corporations, and that he only wants to merchandise Campus Corner.
“You want a mix of shops,” Powell said when asked directly about a potential bias against "mom and pop" shops.
Powell said he has been involved in the turnover of several properties over the years, some by design and some not.
He is currently negotiating leases for the recently closed Crooked Crust and Pita Pit properties, but would not say what businesses would be replacing them.
Powell said that recently there has been a lot of money going toward restoration and reinvestment on Campus Corner.
Those, Powell said, along with factors such as location, square footage of a property, insurance and maintenance all play roles in the ups and downs of rent and property pricing.
Powell said he works with a lot of different tenants; some are corporate and some are “mom and pop” shops.
“When you are bringing in a new tenant you are also trying to bring in new customers,” Powell said.
