From Sept. 25 to Sept. 27, as the College welcomed relatives and supporters of freshman and senior students for Dartmouth’s Family Weekend, local Hanover businesses predictably saw an increase in traffic. While a record number of guests registered for Family Weekend last year, the Office of Alumni Relations did not respond to requests for comment on this year’s registration numbers.
Dartmouth Co-op store manager Jill Dolan said she “absolutely” saw an increase in business over the weekend.
“This year was one of the better weekends we’ve had,” Dolan explained. “We love when the parents come, and we’re looking forward to Homecoming.”
Lou’s Restaurant and Bakery also experienced a surge in customers, with the diners’ line on Sunday going “back around to the dining room,” according to general manager Craig Morley. Morley also reported an increased number of catering orders.
“Leading up to the weekend on Friday, it was very busy for catering and most of those deliveries were on campus,” Morley said. “So, yeah … good, good catering weekend for us.”
Morley explained that Lou’s is “typically … busy every weekend” and did not have the staff numbers to make significant changes to prepare for Family Weekend.
“Our capacity is our capacity,” Morley explained. “So we schedule the same amount of people [to work].”
Jennifer Packard, owner of Molly’s Restaurant and Bar and Buddy T’s Grill and Sports Bar, said she saw “quite the uptick of guests” at both restaurants and made preparations — such as scheduling “utility players” — in advance to accommodate these guests.
“We try to have a lot more support on, people that can help to make the guest experience enhanced by making sure the tables are cleared faster, the wait is shorter,” Packard explained.
Packard added that it was “great” to have multiple home games for varsity sports during Family Weekend.
“We had rugby parents, we had all sorts of different sports parents in both restaurants,” Packard said.
Kim Smith — who owns Hanover Scoops and Ivy Edit in Hanover and Woodstock Scoops, 37th Central Clothiers and Red Wagon Toy Company in Woodstock, Vt. — said she “definitely” saw an increase in business across her stores in the Upper Valley this year but struggled to capitalize on the uptick.
“We’re super short-staffed everywhere,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, it ended up hurting our business.”
Smith added that it is “always a challenge” to adjust for these busy weekends, but she has “become used to it” and “just maybe moves a little faster than you typically do, for sure,” Smith explained.
Ivy Edit co-owner Allison Smith, who is Kim Smith’s daughter, agreed that “staffing is really hard right now,” adding that this Family Weekend saw a “significant decrease” from last year’s sales.
“Sunday has been a dud so far,” Allison Smith said late afternoon on Sunday. “I thought it was going to be a lot busier.”
Despite this, Dartmouth students noticed the overall swell in business over the weekend, as many families attempted to visit the limited number of businesses in downtown Hanover.
“We definitely noticed long lines at places like Molly’s,” Henry Cowan ’30 said. “I talked with another person on my floor and he told me it was an hour wait to get in.”
Packard said it was great to see a “combination of both” new and returning families. She added that she has “gotten to know” students’ families and friends over the past several years, and met others for the first time.
“It’s always nice to welcome the first-year families that come in that haven’t gotten familiar with Hanover yet and don’t really know what a great town Hanover is and all the great stuff here,” Packard said.
