Bomb Threat Brings Business

The UT bomb threat earlier this month may have created a wave of displeased evacuees on campus, but for areas around the university, businesses boomed. 
Numerous dining places located on Rio Grande, Guadalupe, and San Antonio streets, as well as those on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, served as refuges during the emergency evacuation that urged thousands of students and faculty to leave campus.

Amanda Voeller, neuroscience freshman, represented one of the many individuals solely focused on staying dry that particular rainy Friday.

“It seemed like most people were going to The Drag, so my friend and I started walking in that direction. We didn’t go to Whataburger because we were hungry; we just wanted to go inside because it was raining,” Voeller said.

Although Voeller stayed temporarily, the packed environment appeared composed, as she recalls.

“Whataburger was relatively calm, especially considering the fact that bombs [were expected] to go off soon. About three quarters of the people were eating, and because of it, [my friend and I] couldn’t find a place to sit,” she said.

Since the UT Police Department sent the emergency text message around 10:00 a.m., many students and faculty headed towards nearby eateries for breakfast and lunch, not knowing the duration of their departure from campus. 
For Melissa Victory, human development and family science freshman, traveling with friends and finding places to eat proved stressful.

“The local businesses that are a little off The Drag and do not accept Bevo Bucks didn’t necessarily benefit. I had nothing but my id on me, as did many of my friends, and therefore our destinations for food were limited,” Victory said.

Melissa and her group didn’t return to campus on an empty stomach though.

“We ended up getting sandwiches from Schlotzsky’s Deli at the corner of Martin Luther King and North Lamar boulevards. They had a large sign on their window advertising Bevo Bucks. We were excited and enjoyed our meal,” she said.

That Schlotzsky’s Deli experienced a lot of business that day, more so than the employees expected.

“We were setting up to open the doors because we open up at 10 a.m. We had no idea what was going on,” Lili Campos, Schlotzsky’s Deli manager, said.

Campos remembers the overwhelming amounts of students rushing in and ordering off the menu.

“Everyone wanted to eat for some reason, and I didn’t know why. [The students] were talking among themselves as to what was going on. About 75 percent of the students purchased something, most notably, the Cinnabon cinnamon rolls,” Campos said.

While many dining establishments flourished with UT evacuees, among the most popular locations included the famous coffeehouse chain, Starbucks.

“It was a pretty slow morning compared to what it usually is,” Emily Schmerl, barista at Starbucks on 10^th Street and Congress Avenue, said.

The influx of students, Schmerl identified based on numerous laptops and backpacks, mended the morning’s stagnant sales by making their own purchases.

“Most of the people bought a drink. It all evened out actually, because I think our sales from the morning came to what they usually are,” Schmerl said.

The Starbucks at 24^th and San Antonio streets dealt with a large crowd as well. UT journalism professor Robert Quigley recollects his time there.

“I had just finished a meeting with a member of the tech community when I heard the alarm sound and noticed the text message alert from UT. From my table, I could see the stream of students coming off campus and heading toward the West Campus area,” Quigley said. “I evacuated in place. Since I was already at Starbucks, I figured I would just stay there.”

Quigley’s decision included ordering another coffee which according to him, seemed rational.

“By the time my order was ready, the line wrapped all around the building and there was no room to move. I estimated there were at least 200 to 250 students packed into the coffee shop,” he said.

The number of students at the Starbucks actually helped Quigley post more about the emergency situation on Twitter.

“I wanted to share the mood of the students who were evacuating and to give a clear take on the mood of the students. The students were very calm and were taking it in stride,” Quigley said. “My tweets reached the Associated Press, which called me for quotes and AP Radio, which recorded my observations.”

The employees working at Café Medici on Guadalupe Street expected their usual morning routine, until the siren went off that is.

“Honestly, it was like a typical busy morning-like coffee rush. We heard the siren and had no idea [what was going on],” Thomas King, Café Medici manager, said. “We had gotten word from students who gotten in showing us the text, leading to a line going out the door.”

King said when there was no way to look over everything; he called other employees for extra help.

“There were entire classes that came together and there were some professors who tried to conduct their classes before they realized that it wasn’t going to work out,” he said.

Although the amount of assistance increased significantly, the ratio of people to sales didn’t meet expectations.

“Our sales were high, but they weren’t that high. A lot of people were looking for places out of the rain,” King said. “I think people just wanted to drink something warm.”

With the evacuation spanning at least two hours, both evacuees and businesses benefited from each other; sales increased in most dining areas, while students and faculty discovered locations to ward off the rain and their hunger, and most importantly, ensuring their safety.