Gone are the days of patrons who glanced nervously over their shoulders to make sure no one was watching as they entered that restroom labeled "The Weaker Sex." No more Monday open-mic nights. No more Heath Street sandwiches.
Stimulance coffeehouse, formerly located at 3160 Main St. in the heart of the University Heights, closed its door to the public shortly before winter break, leaving a disappointed community in its wake.
"I think ultimately Stimulance closed because there were too many businesses in the area and the student population (in the Heights) has been declining steadily for several years," said Jeremy Kornbluth, former owner of Stimulance, who now bartends at The Circle on Eggert Rd. near Millersport Hwy. "It's dog-eat-dog."
"We were basically dependent upon the students at UB," said Steve Carveth, a former Stimulance employee and bassist for the Buffalo band Fish's Eddy. "Business was really slow - the area is depleted. The people on North Campus, they don't ever even have to leave."
Walk the main drag of any college town and one would expect to find an eclectic mix - coffee shops, tattoo parlors, bookstores, vintage clothing, ethnic foods and a late-night pizzeria. While Main Street at South Campus isn't missing any of these, business proprietors say UB's split campus, coupled with the New York state smoking ban, puts them in a precarious position.
"I also lost business because of the smoking law," said Kornbluth. "Businesses in the Heights are losing money hand over fist because of that law."
"I didn't realize they were going to go under," said Matt Thomas, a junior music major who lives in an apartment next to Stimulance. "It was definitely a good place for me to go to get coffee and bagels. People are just addicted to Starbucks. Because you're on North Campus all the time, you go to Starbucks."
Broadway Joe's owner Samuel Marabella, whose bar was voted one of the top 20 dives in America by "Stuff" magazine, said business has become more and more uncertain as North Campus grows every year.
"I think when they moved everybody off of Main Street, that destroyed the University Heights. We're really holding on to the kids that live off campus," he said.
Coffee Bean Caf?(c) manager Tish DeJesus said it's difficult to depend on students as a steady source of revenue, so independent businesses must reach out to the surrounding areas.
"We're primarily run by UB students," said DeJesus. "Unless you venture out and take your advertising to other locations, you're not really going to get the clientele."
According to DeJesus, aggressive marketing in the downtown area and surrounding suburbs has helped her company stay out of the red in its 10 years on Main Street. She said a liquor license and a possible name change are in the works for Coffee Bean to help draw the crowd back.
"It comes to a point where you know if you want to flourish, you have to expand," she said. "Honest to God, it's really hard to survive on a buck and a quarter. You need more than a cup of coffee to get you by."
"Most of the business we did was bagels," said Carveth. "Not many people were interested in cappuccinos and lattes."
Still, Stimulance couldn't make it with its signature street-name sandwiches, live music and pool table. According to DeJesus, the closing of a rival coffee shop hurts her store more than it helps.
"When you suffer a loss like Stimulance, it's hard for everyone. It depreciates the entire area," she said. "We want to see our competition flourish. We don't like losing a competitor because it makes the neighborhood look bad."
Greg Kempf, co-owner and cook at Amy's Place, a Lebanese-American restaurant, agreed that coffee retail is a tough trade.
"It think it's harder to survive on just coffee and bagels," he said. "I think that's why (Coffee Bean Caf?(c)) does well - because they have a great menu."
Kempf said Amy's Place has grown in popularity due to its widening vegetarian and vegan menu, and he wants to see the restaurant increase involvement with the community and host UB students' artwork.
Carveth said his new residence on Elmwood Avenue has opened his eyes to the state of affairs in the South Campus community.
"I live on Elmwood now, and there's so much more activity over here," he said. "The only thing people want to do in the Heights is go drinking. It's a completely self-sufficient neighborhood at North Campus."
"Stimulance was one of the few places on Main Street that underage students without vehicles could enjoy due to its convenient location within walking distance to the South Campus bus," said Erica Moore, a senior English major. "It really was a nice place to go on the weekend without having to get a fake ID."
According to Marabella, the 2003 statewide smoking ban, the legal drinking age, and the decline in popularity of live music have made considerable dents in Broadway Joe's clientele.
"It's tough to run your own business in New York State," he said.
Marabella says he doesn't take the "Stuff" rating as an insult to his business or the Main Street area; rather, he finds Broadway Joe's paramount to rescuing the flailing live music scene and geek life at UB.
"We are super cool. We're cooler than The Steer," he said. "We are what we are and it's a matter of time before things recycle, you know."
"It's all these sorority girls that ignore us geeks," said Marabella. "They ignore us in high school but what happens is they end up falling in love with us and marrying us. After they go through the meatheads with the tinted hair and their collars up, they realize we're more intelligent."
