By JON HARRISON/ Staff Writer 

With the holidays coming to a close, Montevallo Main Street businesses are now taking inventory of how the holiday season affected their sales.

“Students make up a third to a half our business at any point, so business is kind of slow when they leave,” said Jeremiah Snider, an employee at Eclipse in Montevallo, “so we were closed all last week.”

Eclipse is a coffee shop and bookstore in Montevallo that also sells sandwiches and craft beer.

Walt Czeskleba, of Czeskleba TV Repair, also said this time of year is slow for business.

“With big businesses practically giving away televisions, it is very hard to make money in the TV repair business this time of year,” said Czeskleba. “But my business is diversified due to my pool service in the spring and summer, so that makes up for this time of year.”

The Main Street Tavern is one business that doesn’t see the student crowd, but also makes up for it.

“Well with school out, it’s not near as busy that way, but the holidays are always good around here,” said Jeff Webster, owner of The Main Street Tavern. “People love to come home and eat.”

Webster said that even though the student crowd is gone for the month and fewer families are going out to eat after Christmas, the tavern has found other crowds to cater to.

“Folks spend a lot of money on Christmas and we are a luxury, eating out in general is a luxury,” said Webster. “But we make up for it in private parties, and a lot of people get married this time of year and we do rehearsal dinners as well.”

Another business in Montevallo that does well this time of year is Beauty Unlimited, a hair salon in downtown Montevallo. Owner Lekkita Hinston said she sees an increase in business this time of year.

“Day to day, around the holidays, I usually do 15 to 20 people a day,” said Hinston, “that usually takes from about 5:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.”