Local businesses excited for students to return
Reporter: Liz Kotalik
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Amanda Rickel recently opened a unique restaurant called "The Fix" in the heart of U of A's campus.
The menu mainly focuses on her renditions of the American classic Macaroni and Cheese, and Rickel said she picked the location of her restaurant based on how close she was to students.
"I had other concepts in mind," Rickel said, "But once it came to being at Main Gate when we're surrounded by all of these students, you wanna give them a reason to come in, and that was the comfort of home."
But when you put up shop in a college town, success may depend on the season. Rickel said the Main Gate area where her restaurant is located looked like a "ghost town" when students were on winter break this year.
She also said it was hard to compete with the corporate businesses that surround her.
"They can stay open and handle it because they have other stores bringing in traffic. While us, this is all we rely on."
Rickel thinks construction demolishing the street on one side of the stretch of shops deters those who are not students from venturing into the area. But she said getting to work for her is not a problem, and her restaurant will gladly validate parking.
"I think people are scared, and they shouldn't be, because the Main Gate is very accommodating for food, shopping, everything."
Despite recent business being slow, today is a good day for on-campus shops. Amanda is confident that her success during the remainder of the school year will keep her alive and cooking.
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