Taking care of business

With heads down, walking down Commonwealth Avenue, many students pause only to look up for T trains, cars and other people. Occasionally, one encounters a figure with something especially for him or her: a coupon. Businesses up, down and diagonal from Comm. Ave., and even those that lack real estate in proximity of the university, handing out free things and discounts are a common sight throughout campus. The question is: why?

Representatives of various stores along Boston University’s main artery have all cited the main reason: to get students into their businesses, all despite the fact that the intrinsic nature of a college campus &-thousands of co-eds living together for nine months out of the year &- comes with both good and bad.

Calendar cruelty

For any business, its livelihood is its consumers. But what happens when your target market disappears for four months out of the year? For many stores, it’s a tough pill to swallow. Take Dellaria salon for example. Specializing in haircuts and beauty treatments, the salon must maintain solvency even if students’ money is not necessarily reliable.

According to Marissa Pizzo, manager of Dellaria salon at 623 Comm. Ave., 75 percent of salon customers are BU students.

That dependence is so strong that it can make or break an employee’s future.

“We have it in our employee handbook that hours will be cut and changed based on foot traffic. During Christmas and after Christmas, you’ll be required to work a lot or you’ll be sent home and you’ll just have to deal with it because of how much our business changes,” Pizzo said.

Alex Michaledes, co-owner of University Grill &’ Pizza on 712 Comm. Ave., echoed Pizzo’s sentiment of rolling with the punches dealt by having stake in a business on a college campus.

“In the summers, it drops, but its the same cycle every year. You get used to it if you’ve been here long enough. With the holidays, spring break, it’s the same,” he said. “But we’re accustomed to it. It’s no big deal. No surprises.”

Masterful marketing

Knowing what lies ahead can be a boon for businesses, especially Dellaria. To avoid having to lay off workers, the salon embarks upon a veritable ad blitz at the beginning of the school year, using any means possible to ensure BU students know that not only does the salon exist, but it’s looking for their business. Pizzo cited handing out coupons on Comm. Ave., calling students, and, most importantly, working with BU to get the word out about her business.

“We try to work with BU as much as we can because our business depends on it so much. We do 20 percent off, we do Back Bay Ball,” Pizzo said.

George Lellios, the Sales and Marketing Manager of Audio Concepts on 870 Comm. Ave. employs the same method as Dellaria &- working with BU. Yet for a business like Audio Concepts, it would seem less than necessary to work with BU students, given that, according to Lellios, they constitute less than five percent of the store’s clientele.

“BU students as a whole are not our target audience. The majority of our business comes from the customization side, which would cater to parents, staff members or faulty in the university community,” said Lellios.

Although he declined to specify which events exactly Audio Concepts is “actively involved,” Lellios said his store would be promoting itself in university events during the year.

“BU students become BU alumni. We want to be there to provide and be the group of people these kids come to after they graduate and become successful,” Lellios said.

Michaledes had a similar view, speaking of businesses’ intent to invest in a location where students are only present two-thirds of the year.

“That’s more exposure, more or less, so that when you guys graduate, you’ll remember the name,” he said. “It’s all marketing.”

“We want to be there for students from when they come in for iPod speakers when they’re freshmen to when they’re looking for a custom home audio system when they’re older,” Lellios said.

In some ways, this is the guaranteed business that comes with providing services on a college campus. And for most of the businesses on Comm. Ave., chances are, they’re present elsewhere.

“Franchoosing”

Almost all of the businesses on Comm. Ave., with the exception of University Grill, Noodle Street and a handful of others, have other locations. New to Comm. Ave. is Sal’s Pizza, which alone has roughly 50 different branches. The new location, almost immediately next to University Grill, is just more competition for the decades-old restaurant.

“The school put Sal’s in there, so they want them. They felt there was a need to add a pizza place to the neighborhood. We took it personally a little bit. I wouldn’t do that to them. We’re the only private real estate here,” Michaledes said.

As of press time, Sal’s Pizza had not responded to requests for comment.

University Grill has been a mainstay on BU campus for over 60 years, and is one of the only mom and pop restaurants left on campus. They are also noticeably absent from promotional publications on campus, such as the coupon books given out at the beginning of fall.

“We’re not affiliated with the school. And we’re not a part of the school. They don’t own us. They own those [franchises on campus],” Michaledes said.

“I know why there’s a Subway and a Starbucks there. And plus they take convenience points and they put it into the dormitories. The school gets a piece of it,” he said. “[BU] parents buy those cards and the kids can eat all day, but it’s all in-house.”

The nature of brand loyalty, seemingly something the franchises hope to gain by holding real estate on campus, may be a boon to the businesses such as University Grill.

“In the beginning, people try it out, but overall, the customers are used to us and the franchises and chains and stuff. The customers always make the right choice in the end,” he said.