GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – It’s no secret that Greenville becomes a little more lively when ECU students are back in town.
“Without the students, we couldn’t make a living here,” said Yvonne Perry, general manager of University Book Exchange.
But the impact may be bigger than some think: ECU has a $2.2 billion impact on Eastern Carolina’s economy in fiscal year 2023, according to ECU data. Local businesses are also seeing a boom this year.
“It was just so busy from 12:30 to 2:30. We had a real student presence,” said Riley Weaver, Cucinella’s front-of-house manager.
This is the first official weekend since the students moved in, but some stores have seen an increase in foot traffic long before then.
“We were open two weeks in a row, so we were open Friday, Saturday and Sunday to take in move-ins. On Thursday we started to get more student tenants moving in. Starting on Thursday, things started to pick up,” Perry said.
Some stores have actually had to hire additional staff — “We actually just hired a little bit two weeks ago on Monday, we started with five women and then we hired some guys,” Weaver said — but Cucinella’s isn’t the only one that has hired staff.
“We have to hire more employees. We’ve hired eight new ECU students,” Perry said.
As the fall semester begins, businesses are preparing and excited for what’s to come.
“We start getting new items in around July in preparation for the new school year and it’s not stopping. We expect to have some in stock in November or December,” Perry said.
Of the $2.2 billion spent in East Carolina in fiscal year 2023, student spending alone accounted for $531 million.
According to the same data, the total number of jobs supported by the ECU is over 27,000.
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