As Parents Weekend begins, John Vavalo, owner of J. Michael Shoes on Marshall Street, is getting ready by making room in the store, extending its hours and making sure more staff is on hand.

‘We’re excited and getting ready for it,’ Vavalo said. ‘We’re putting our best foot forward.’

Vavalo said he is looking forward to what he calls a ‘phenomenal weekend,’ and is expecting a major influx of students, complete with parents and their credit cards, to traffic the store all weekend long.

He’s not the only one. Practically all businesses on Marshall Street are preparing for the increase in customers they usually receive during Parents Weekend.

Bill Nester, manager of Manny’s, describes Parents Weekend as the busiest three-day weekend of the year. Nester, like Vavalo, is preparing by fully stocking his store, especially with Nike and Champion-brand clothing, his two biggest sellers. He is also planning on having extra staff on hand. Nester describes the Saturday of Parents Weekend as tenfold what a normal Saturday is in terms of business.

The most enjoyable thing about Parents Weekend, Nester said, is being able to promote school spirit with SU students and their families.

‘It’s nice to be part of a tradition,’ he said.

But there are some students, such as Mary St. Jean, an undeclared freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences, who are more excited to be taken out to dinner by their parents than to go shopping.

‘I don’t have much interest in exploiting Mommy’s wallet,’ St. Jean said. ‘Most of my plans involve food, we’re probably going to go Bleu Monkey because I like their sushi.’

However, not all places on Marshall Street are as inundated with customers as others. Brad Lancaster, who has worked at Acropolis for four years, says the store often doesn’t get as much business as they do otherwise during the year.

‘Parents want to take their kids to fancy places downtown, so sometimes we don’t get as much business,’ Lancaster said.

Lancaster also said during the rest of the year, one of Acropolis’ busiest hours is between 1 and 2:30 a.m. During Parents Weekend, however, Lancaster said they rarely receive much business during those hours ‘because people aren’t going out and drinking, because they don’t want to get in trouble or whatever.’

‘I think Parents Weekend is a big impact on the whole year, it has a big impact on the whole area. Even in the restaurants, you just can’t get reservations,’ Vavalo said.

Published on October 27, 2005 at 12:00 pm