BY CARSTEN SAVAGE (‘17)

Denison students started classes on Aug. 27 this year, and their arrival means that Granville’s stores, restaurants and people are being affected in a multitude of ways.

The Denison campus has a number of facilities that keep its students busy during the year, but students inevitably find their way downtown in search of more activities. As Mr. Durst notes, however, Granville’s downtown parking is not affected since “students walk down from the hill.”

A store that Denison students have been known to visit is Whit’s Frozen Custard. Gary, the owner of the establishment, spoke of the campus’s impact on the shop.

“We get more families than students,” he said. “But business is better once the Denison students are back.”

Denison students often find employment at local restaurants. Whit’s is not an exception.

“We had one work here last year,” Gary said. “I believe he’s coming back.”

Gary said that students’ favorite Whit’s desserts are “pretty much across the board, but a favorite is the Buckeye Whitser.”

On the other side of Broadway, JoAnn Geiger of Reader’s Garden acknowledged the impact Denison has on the book store.

“Denison families are bigger customers than Denison students,” Geiger said.  “But students will come looking for books for fun, and we have classics that they’ll read for classes.”

When asked why a Denison student would come to Reader’s Garden instead of the campus bookstore, Geiger said that Reader’s Garden “pays taxes to Granville schools and supports local charities with donations.”

Although no Denison students work at Reader’s Garden, Geiger believes Denison plays a role in her business’s success.

“I don’t think the shop would survive without Denison,” she said. “College towns are always fertile for bookselling.”