Pizza restaurants around the University have found that business has increased since the closing of Gumby’s Pizza Sept. 28.
Restaurant owners said they have mainly noticed a difference late at night, when Gumby’s was particularly busy.
Some students said they used to enjoy being able to get cheap pizza in the late hours of the night at Gumby’s.
“[Gumby’s] was busiest late at night, and that’s when we’ve picked up the most business,” Gale Ebert, manager of Domino’s Pizza on Western Boulevard, said.
Echoing Ebert was shift leader Isaac Medford of Papa John’s Pizza on Hillsborough Street.
“It’s happened,” he said, referring to a business increase. “It’s been the late night. I’ve had way more calls than I can handle.”
Keith Mouser, general manager of Marco’s Pizza on Hillsborough Street, agreed.
“We’ve seen a big increase in the late night hours,” Mouser said.
Steven Harpham, a First Year College freshman, said he eats at Domino’s and Papa John’s.
Michael Kenlan, a sophomore in business, said he eats mostly Domino’s these days.
“We eat late at night,” Abby Merchant, a freshman in social work, said. “We went to Domino’s one night since [Gumby’s was] closed.”
Still, Merchant said Gumby’s was a tradition. “Pizza’s just not the same without Gumby’s,” she said.
Harpham said he liked the Pokey Stix from Gumby’s, a favorite among some students.
“We loved [Gumby’s],” Ashley Konopko, a freshman in fashion and textile management, said. “We really ate the Pokey Stix.”
Chris Banker, a senior in mechanical engineering, said he used to eat Gumby’s a lot when he was a freshman.
“We’d take up a collection for Gumby’s,” he said. “Gumby’s was the only take-out option for me.”