The Blood of Business

     The blood of Ball State University pumps the heart of Muncie, Indiana. It should be no surprise that the population attracted to Ball State fiscally supports the greater Muncie area in a classic give a take relationship. Students support and attract businesses to the area. However, this symbiotic relationship has a major drawback. 

            “Yeah, summer is dead.”, commented Tom Cunliffe, General Manager of the Muncie Red Lobster, when asked about seasonal business problems. “Once the students leave, profits drop, and the waves of customers we are used to ends.”

            Red Lobster is only one of many restaurants and shops in Muncie that provide tremendous amounts of service for students and their families during the regular school semester. However, unlike other shops that seem to suffer from the summer draw back, Red Lobster is still a recognized name among the greater population of Muncie.

            “I’ve lived in Muncie my whole life and the change from school to summer is always really dramatic”, says Red Lobster employee and Muncie local Noah Cremeans, “The village almost completely dies off and, I’m surprised more shops don’t close down when break starts.”

            The benefit Red Lobster has among other shops in the Muncie area is the national recognition. The seafood giant is able to stay afloat due to the reputation it has been able to build in the country and carry into the community. Other stores, especially those who primarily promote themselves to the Ball State student population, really take a hit during the holidays and breaks causing the store owners and managers to question their further involvement in the community. 

            “So many stores seem to come into the village and, after seeing how poor business is during the summer, pack up or cut hours,” commented Cunliffe “We are able to swallow the hit because of our wider recognition, but even we have to lower the hours we offer our employees.”

            While stores dread the seasonal breaks and end of the schools semesters, Muncie locals don’t seem to mind the lapse in population at all.

            “I honestly love the summer,” exclaimed Muncie local Rebecca Martin “The shops are so much less crowded, traffic seems to calm down, and you can pretty much walk into any restaurant and instantly snag a table.”

            While many businesses understand the drawbacks of less business in the summer, including cut hours, smaller staff, and emptier shops, many locals don’t understand how much the lack of student population actually affects business schedules.

            “One thing I don’t understand is why, when a restaurant is clearly empty, we still have to sometimes wait for a table before being able to sit down and grab a drink,” illustrates Martin “I understand that staff is smaller and hours are cut, but an empty table is an empty table.” 

            One of the prevalent issues that this dip in business seems to highlight is the population drawback in the Muncie area. Muncie is not sought after as a suitable place to remain after students finish their college careers or as a place to raise a family due to the high drug issue the community continues to face. For the past several years Muncie has led Indiana as the city with the highest number of Meth lab raids. However Heroine has recently moved into the city as the prevalent drug addiction. Hand in hand with the opium epidemic which has also touched the city, drug addiction and distribution is a problem with no ready answer. 

            “I think there is no doubt that drugs scare off a lot of potential Mocals” stated Cremeans “If we can solve the larger drug issue, I could see Muncie becoming much more sought after.”