SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Local businesses on the Hill are preparing for the return of Syracuse University students, whose spending and labor help sustain many shops and restaurants near campus.
Many small businesses near the university rely heavily on students for revenue. Manny’s, a sports apparel store that has operated for nearly 70 years, generates about 40% of its sales from the Syracuse University community.
Collegetown Bagels also depends on students to help run its daily operations.
Casey Davis, general manager of Collegetown Bagels, said students make up about half of the restaurant’s staff and frequently work nights and weekends.
Despite its reliance on students, Collegetown Bagels has adjusted its marketing strategy to attract customers during the slower summer months.
“We’re doing a lot of marketing, trying to get out to the hospitals or the nearby offices around here,” Davis said. “We have a lot of construction going on, so we have a lot of workers who come in.”
Syracuse University enrolls about 22,000 students. Students are scheduled to begin returning to Syracuse on Aug. 14 for the fall 2026 semester.
Audio Transcript: Businesses on the Hill ready for students to return to campus
Ben: Multiple businesses on the Hill in Syracuse, New York, are anticipating the long awaited return of students to the Syracuse University campus.
Ben: Mike Ghellis, the general manager of Manny, says that the store stocking up on gear for students in the upcoming football season.
Mike: We’re getting stock almost every day from UPS and Fedex.
Ben: Ghellis says that he does not need to worry about promotions to attract visitors.
Mike: Pretty much all the students at one point or another in the first week come down to Marshall Street,
Ben: but traffic does not apply to only Manny’s but local coffee shop Collegetown Bagels.
Casey: It’s just walk is a lot of people walk in as we’re hiring. I did on my business card tell them to eat my resume and their availability. And then a lot of it is just worried about people that still work here, have friends that work out.
Ben: Casey Davis, the general manager for Collegetown Bagels, says that she feels confident in her plan to best prepare for the return of students.
Casey: I’m looking at last year’s numbers to see how some of them yesterday, last year to be compared as far as codifies, really just looking at last year’s data and trying to analyze.
Ben: The fall semester at Syracuse University officially starts on August twenty fourth. Ben Anderson, NCC news.