THE DERIVED DEMAND DEFLATES AS THE COLLEGE BUBBLE DOES.

In addition to the university-supported bookstore in the student center, the Village Commons Bookstore has provided textbooks, Northern Illinois University themed clothing and pledge paraphernalia, including paddles for students and townies alike.  Until Governor Pritzker killed the state economy.

[Store manager Jody] Boardman said the rise of digital textbook usage had been impacting store book sales for a couple of years but said the closure is mostly due to the current business climate in DeKalb.

“You can’t pin it all on [COVID-19], but most of our traffic was the students,” Boardman said. “The entire campus is empty. [Huskie] football was always huge for us too and there isn’t even a football season.”

It's likely that items will be closed out through March. "The majority of the store’s shelves are filled with NIU themed goods and merchandise, would-be souvenirs and mementos for a student body whose college experience is now largely transmitted from a computer screen miles away from the DeKalb campus."

There's a good deal of vacant retail space around DeKalb, including away from the university.  It's not quite "will the last person to leave Illinois turn out the lights," although the exodus of people is likely to continue even after the ineffective mitigation measures end.