Uptown Restaurants Adapt to J-Term in Pandemic

Many Oxford businesses are used to a slow spell during winter break. But with the impact of the pandemic adding an extra financial burden this school year, some were unsure if they could afford to stay open for the nearly two months between semesters.

Skipper’s Pub made the decision to close until the end of Miami's January term (J-term). Ben Siefke, a Miami senior and employee at Skippers, said staying open through the break just wasn't realistic.

"By the time finals rolled around, there was nobody coming in," Siefke said. "So I think it was just that there'd be no business besides the regulars, and the regulars aren't enough to justify opening up."

As he returned home for the long break, Siefke was able to find a job in Cincinnati to work at during J-term, but many of his co-workers at Skipper’s didn't have those opportunities.

"It was more or less just me getting lucky," Siefke said. "I know my roommate was really affected, because he lives up in Cleveland. He was kind of hoping that, working at Skipp’s, he'd have a reliable source of income, but unfortunately, he didn't … and he couldn't go back to his job in Cleveland, so it was a lose-lose situation for him."

Bagel and Deli, an uptown staple, chose to stay open through winter break and J-term. Co-owner Gary Franks said they have always stayed open over break since their employees could use the hours, and they don't need many employees to work at any given time.

"Some of the bigger places, to stay open, you might need four, five, six people in there to keep the place open, which makes it financially a lot harder to keep the place open if you're not doing a lot of business," Franks said. "We can run this place with one or two people over break, so the labor costs aren't as high."

Skipper’s, a much larger sit-down restaurant, would normally have 10 to 12 employees working during a shift, Siefke said.

Typically over break, Bagel and Deli only sees business from tourists and travelers, Franks said, but it's still enough that he sees reason to keep the business open. He also said that anyone passing through greatly appreciates it.

“It's not like it's a booming business,” Franks said. “But it's worth being open and keeping my employees paid."

Doughby's owner Beau Hiner said he has always closed the calzone shop over winter break, even before COVID-19.

"We always close during J-term, or else it'd kind of mess our finances up, with our mostly student-based restaurant,” Hiner said. “All my employees are students, so I don't have enough students to keep the restaurant open once school is out."

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Even though some aspects of his business are still operating as usual, Hiner said COVID-19 has still done some damage. With less students engaging with traditional campus life, there are less opportunities for students to stop by.

"When corona came in, it kind of destroyed everything," Hiner said. "With the bars not being open late we're still busy, but we don't get that huge punch in the throat like when the bars would let out on Thursday, Friday, Saturday."

robbinha@miamioh.edu