"This past weekend we've definitely had new customers because of people dropping their kids off at school," said Jeremy Malanka, 25, a bartender and waiter at Limoncello Ristorante on North Walnut Street, considered one of the prime destinations for parents who want to treat their children to a nice meal.
You can tell it's a place that best fits parents' budgets. The cheapest appetizers are $9, salads start at $5 and entrées begin at about $16. That's more than four Big Mac meals - sandwich, fries, and drink.
This weekend was big for Limoncello, as are other selected days of the year.
On the Monday after graduation in June, Malanka said, "we served almost 400 people all day." Normally on a Monday, the restaurant has about 150 customers, he said.
Some enterprises hit the college-age demographic more squarely than others.
"We always welcome the students back to town," said Dave Fairman, owner of Fairman's, a store selling skateboards as well as snow and surf gear.
The store gives students with university ID a 15 percent discount year-round on clothing and footwear, which bumps up to 25 percent during August.
Even college students might want to get a haircut once in a while. While the shop was closed Sunday, a blackboard in the window of the West Chester Barber Shop advertised student haircuts for $12, three bucks less than the price for a plain old adult.
Not yet crowded but sure to be soon - after all, who has had time to dirty a full basket of clothes? - is the Campus Laundromat on South High Street. If the observations of some West Chester residents are any indication, the laundromat must see a spike in business after St. Patrick's Day.
"You know not to go in West Chester for breakfast the day after St. Patrick's Day because last night's dinner or drinks might be on the sidewalk," said John Kelly Jr., 16, who was eating a cheesesteak at Jack's Steaks & Shakes, joined by his mother, Cate, 52, and 11-year-old brother, Tommy.
Partying side effects aside, Cate Kelly loves the energy students bring to West Chester. As the mother of a teen, she likes that West Chester feels safer when classes are in session because so many more people, including police, are outside.
That also means more traffic, she acknowledged, but she added that locals know which side streets to take to avoid it and when to steer clear of the major thoroughfares.
Some residents, especially those near campus, earn money renting rooms to students.
When it comes to the business of faith, the United Methodist Church on High Street, close to campus, sees more people coming in its doors this time of year.
"It's the best time of year," said the Rev. Truman Brooks. "We had at least 10 new students in church today. They're usually thrilled to have a place they feel comfortable."
Jeannette Cordero of Long Branch, N.J., seems to find the whole town of West Chester comfortable. On Sunday, she and other family members paid a visit to deliver books to her son Francisco, 22, who is in a master's program for counseling and student affairs.
Cordero considers herself a West Chester admirer and - important to the borough's economy - a shopper. The two times she has been in town, she has shopped, she said. In July, she hit a chocolate store and a shop specializing in olive oil.
On Sunday, she was having a meal at Penn's Table on West Gay Street.
Contact Carolyn Davis at 215-854-4214 or cdavis@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @carolyntweets.
