Limited parking, a competitive atmosphere and climbing rent make it difficult to weather Campus Corner’s business climate, owners of recently closed businesses say.

Five resaturants have closed on Campus Corner since January 2011. Cookies-N-Cards, LaLuna’s Mexican Café and Freedbird’s were the most recent businesses to close or move out of the area.

LaLuna’s Mexican Café was open for 10 years at 529 Buchanan Ave., but owner Cindy Cabrera shut the doors for the last time in November and moved to a new location in Newcastle.

Cabrera’s daughter, Donyae Lindsey, managed LaLuna’s Campus Corner location and now manages the Newcastle location. Leaving Norman was bittersweet, Lindsey said.

“We were sad to leave Campus Corner, but when we had the opportunity to buy property, it just made better sense,” Lindsey said.

In addition to the chance to purchase property, Cabrera pointed to parking problems as a reason the restaurant left Campus Corner. LaLuna’s could seat more than 220 customers, but limited parking near the building made business difficult, she said.

“Parking is probably the biggest issue facing Campus Corner restaurants,” Cabrera said. “Everything else, you can adjust and live with, but if you can’t get people in the door, you have a problem.”

Cabrera said the Campus Corner Merchants Association — an organization comprised of Campus Corner business representatives — talked about building a parking garage to alleviate the problem 10 years ago, but that never happened.

Jeff Stewart, president of the Campus Corner Merchants Association, confirmed a parking garage is something the association has discussed and said it is something the Campus Corner business owners are in agreement to build. Stewart owns O’Connell’s Irish Pub and Grille.

“There are plans already drawn up, and we’re just trying to get the financing element in place,” Stewart said. “It involves multiple owners, one of which is the university.”

Stewart agreed that parking is an issue but said adaptability and flexibility are keys to businesses surviving on Campus Corner.

The City of Norman conducted a parking study on Campus Corner two years ago that found most people like to be able to see the front door of the location they are going into from wherever they park — which is not a common occurrence on Campus Corner, Stewart said.

But the lack of parking on Campus Corner is part of what makes the area unique, Stewart said.

“There are going to be real concentrated business times, and there are going to be very lean times,” he said. “You have to be able to flex with that.”

On top of maneuvering through parking difficulties, Campus Corner has a competitive business environment — a challenge for any business owner, Stewart said.

“Campus Corner is an ongoing repetitive challenge every semester.” Stewart said. “I think some businesses may leave because they get tired of the challenge.”

Cookies-N-Cards wasn’t tired of the challenge but couldn’t afford it anymore, owner Nancy Russell said. The bakery and gift shop was a 24-year staple of Campus Corner, but Russell closed the shop in July when the cost to rent her space went up.

“I don’t blame the landlords,” Russell said. “They found someone that could afford to pay more.”