Amid recent local business closures, here's your sign to support your favorite local spot
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The recent closures of multiple doughnut shops around Charlotte have people wondering: Have doughnut shops reached their peak? Local business owners say no, but that you should still support them so they don't meet the same fate.
Why it matters: When beloved local restaurants announce they're closing, people are often quick to lament — often asking what they can do — after it's too late.
Driving the news: Locally owned vegan doughnut shop Pepperbox Doughnuts is closing its South End location on Thursday, Oct. 31. Its owners cited a "drastic drop" in sales over the past 24 months in an Instagram post. This comes after the closure of its NoDa location earlier this year. Its owners told The Observer that the closure was due to high overhead costs.
- Duck Donuts, a North Carolina-based doughnut chain, abruptly closed two franchise locations in Dilworth and Huntersville last week, CBJ reported.
Between the lines: B.A.D owner Jasmine "Jazz" Macon tells Axios that she was initially alarmed to see so many of her competitors' back-to-back closures.
- "Duck Donuts is where I would like to be at some point with Beyond Amazing Donuts ... to have multiple locations throughout the Carolinas," Macon says.
Zoom out: It's not just local doughnut shops that have been closing recently.
- Village Tavern is the latest in a string of decades-old Charlotte mainstays to close this year. Harper's on Fairview closed over the summer after more than three decades. Earlier this month, Riccio's Italian closed after 62 years.
The other side: These recent closures don't seem to be stopping other shops from opening — like Gastonia-based Yummm Donuts, which recently expanded to Charlotte. Not to mention national chains like The Salty Donut, which will open its second Charlotte-area location in Ballantyne this fall and another location in Plaza Midwood.
By the numbers: A case of 30 dozen eggs (360 eggs) costs about $81, four gallons of milk is around $23 and a 36-pound case of butter costs $155 — the three main ingredients for B.A.D's brioche-based dough.
- "When you buy that $3 doughnut, it's not $3 because we pulled it out of thin air. It's $3 because one egg likely cost us 33 cents," Macon said.
Flashback: When Your Mom's Donuts' owner Courtney Ahern announced the closure of both shop locations back in Feb. 2023, she partially blamed inflation. Ahern told Axios at the time that she would need to charge $8 for a doughnut instead of $2.50-$4 to make a profit.
- A few months later, the Park Road Shopping Center location reopened under new ownership and slightly more expensive doughnuts.
What they're saying: "It's difficult to staff consistently, it's difficult when revenue is low, it's difficult when machines break down, it's difficult when whole seasons are slow (hello, summer), it's just difficult," Reigning Doughnuts co-owner Jamie Brown said in a statement to Axios.
The bottom line: There are several ways to support local businesses. "Talk about us, share a post, whenever your job has a meeting don't suggest Dunkin Donuts, come to a local establishment instead," Macon said.
- B.A.D is also a part of the Goodie Bag app, which connects users with discounted surplus food from local businesses.
Go deeper: Best doughnut shops in Charlotte