When Amir Tatari moved to the United States from Syria in the late 1980s, his first job was working at a Dunkin’ Donuts on Thayer Street. Now, over 30 years later, he is set to open the restaurant Abu Yarub Al-Shami on the very same street.

College Hill looks different than it did a year ago. While several small businesses and chains have been forced to close due to a drop in profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, new storefronts, including restaurants such as Tribos Peri Peri and Ayame Hibachi and Sushi, look to fill these vacancies. 

While there has been a significant increase in the number of women-owned businesses across the nation, recent studies still show that women are underrepresented in the field of entrepreneurship: Only 17 percent of startups in the United States have a female founder.

Eye-glass chain Warby Parker opened their first Rhode Island store on College Hill at the end of October. The Providence location, one of the company’s over 100 brick-and-mortar retail shops, sits at the corner of Thayer and Meeting Street.  

Despite financial difficulties stemming from the pandemic, two businesses on Thayer Street are expanding their physical spaces.  Chinatown on Thayer and Metro Mart, located at 277 Thayer St. and 221 Thayer St., respectively, have both leased the storefronts adjacent to them and are expanding their businesses.

Since Aug. 28, film buffs have been able to return to the Avon Cinema to watch the latest motion pictures in person. The 80-year-old independent theater recently opened its doors to the public after a five-month hiatus.

Before the pandemic, customers in East Side Pockets watched their orders being prepared from behind a glass wall. Still, the glass could not contain the crackle of frying oil and the wafting smell of grilled meat — mouthwatering hints for hungry customers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought swift change to Thayer Street: as small retailers and restaurants struggled, some chains and franchises have opened their doors.

Earlier this semester, a Monday afternoon on Thayer Street would mean students filling the windows of Blue State and Ceremony Tea, with lines stretching along the counters of Bajas or East Side Pockets. Now, the street is nearly deserted. 

When I first returned to Brown last summer after a several-month break from College Hill, I didn’t first stop at the Main Green, Faunce House or my friend’s off-campus house — I made a beeline for the steak nachos at Baja’s.