Antonio Tillery got into the butcher business to escape the restaurant business.

But after he and business partner Brian Miller left Maggiano's and opened the first Charlotte-area New York Butcher Shoppe in 2019, they had an idea:

• Cook the meat they sell and feed it to people on a plate, kind of like a — oh no — restaurant.

What's happening: Three years later, that idea has helped N.Y. Butcher power through. They're expanding, too, adding a third Charlotte-area location in early June near Lake Norman in Cornelius.

• It'll be next to the second location of VANA.

Why it matters: Meat prices are skyrocketing these days — beef is up 20% over last year and chicken's up 13%, Axios' Emily Peck reported recently. But this local butcher shop seems to have found a winning formula.

How it works: The shop doubles as a restaurant where the main menu item — highlighted in a big red box — is simply "choose your own cut of meat, salmon or fresh catch from the butcher counter."

• The staff also educates customers on how to prepare lower-tier cuts of meat — trading that filet for flank — to save money.
• After customers eat in-house, they'll often return to buy the same cut to cook at home, Tillery says.
• "Grocery shopping and buying proteins is a very ritualistic process, built on routine," Tillery tells me. "People go where they go and they don’t really break out of that. ... But everybody loves trying a new restaurant."

What to expect: The Cornelius shop will have two patios and a roll-up garage door.

• The shop is part of an overhaul of the 40-year-old Heritage Plaza Center at 20823 N. Main St.

What's next: Tillery says he wants to grow to five New York Butcher Shoppes in the Charlotte area before expanding to Raleigh.

Full story: N.Y. Butcher Shoppe will add a Lake Norman location in June

If you're on the hunt for a new job, here are 30 to get you started.  

• Digital Media Producer at Discovery Place. Apply.
• Surgical Technologist III, Pineville at Atrium Health. Apply.
• Director of Leadership Giving at Charlotte Country Day School. Apply.
• Boutique Manager (Full-time) at Savvy Bride Boutique. Apply.
• Youth Minister at First Baptist Church of Huntersville. Apply.
• Digital Media Specialist/Manager at Anna Stallmann Communications. Apply.
• Financial Specialist at Sisco Safety. Apply.
• Social Media And Communications Coordinator at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery. Apply.
• Executive Director at Carolina Raptor Center. Apply.
• Brand Creation Specialist at Brandsymbol. Apply.
• Accounts Payable Specialist at SAF Technologies. Apply.
• Marketing Communications Account Executive at Central Piedmont Community College. Apply.
• Senior PR Specialist (Public Info Specialist Senior) at City of Charlotte. Apply.
• Account Executive at Swag Bar. Apply.
• Newscaster at WFAE. Apply.
• Senior Designer at birdsong gregory. Apply.
• Inside Sales Associate at Johnstone Supply Charlotte. Apply.
• Donor Relations Manager at Charlotte Rescue Mission. Apply.
• Chief Executive at Greensboro Urban Ministry. Apply.
• Outside Residential Sales Rep at TDS Telecommunications LLC. Apply.
• Executive Director at Augustine Literacy Project-Charlotte. Apply.
• Executive Assistant at Race Team Alliance. Apply.
• Employment Law Associate at Gardner Skelton PLLC. Apply.
• Cashier/Server at Bit by Seoul Food. Apply.
• Head Physical Therapist (Full-time) at Congruency Therapy & Wellness LLC. Apply.
• President & CEO at Charlotte Museum of History. Apply.
• Executive Director at CleanAire NC. Apply.
• Account Manager at WFAE. Apply.
• Part-time Retail Sales Associate at Bedside Manor. Apply.
• Director of Development at WFAE. Apply.

Want more opportunities? Check out all openings on our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a job. 

Digital Media Producer at Discovery Place. 

• Company overview: Bringing science, nature and design together to create transformative experiences for the community.
• In this role: Film and edit video content focused on inspiring minds through science, nature and design.
• Must-have: 1 to 5 years of video experience in a professional setting.

Interested? Apply here.

👋 Belk CEO Nir Patel is "leaving the company to pursue other interests," after less than a year on the job. Company president Don Hendricks will be interim CEO. (Belk)

🏆 Axios — hey, it's us — was named one of Inc. magazine's best workplaces for 2022. (Inc.)

🍨 A Black-owned franchise of The Peach Cobbler Factory, a Nashville-based dessert chain, is open in South End. (QCity Metro)

🏗 Raleigh-based firm Highwoods Properties is set to acquire 650 S. Tryon St. at Legacy Union in Uptown and 1426 St. Tryon St. in South End. The latter is set to become a mixed-use project on the site where the ABC store now stands. (Triangle Business Journal)

Only 2% of businesses in the U.S. — 134,600 — are Black-owned, even though 13% of the country's population is Black, a new report released last week shows.

• If business ownership was proportionate to population, there would be 872,200 Black-owned businesses, Emily wrote this week.

How that translates here: Charlotte — and North Carolina cities on the whole — fares much better than the national average, but still isn't in line with the population.

• 3.8% of the businesses in the metro area are Black-owned, which ranks 16th in the country, says a recent LendingTree study. Black people make up 23% of the metro's population.
• Fayetteville, about 2.5 hours east of Charlotte, has the highest percentage of Black-owned businesses in America, with 11.2%. That metro area is about 33% Black.
• Greensboro is 11th at 4.6%; Raleigh is 15th at 3.9% — each is more than 20% Black.

The big picture: The Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity report identifies several barriers to business creation for people of color and women entrepreneurs, including a lack of access to affordable sources of capital, Emily wrote.

• The report found that only 6.7% of faculty at U.S. business schools are Black or Hispanic, creating a gap in mentorship for students of color.

freecoat, a non-toxic nail and beauty bar, just opened in Concord Mills. 

• Here’s why: “Women deserve to have a space where they can be pampered and they can be intentional about what they put on and around their body,” says owner Michelle Benoit.

In addition to nail services, freecoat offers an infrared sauna and halo salt therapy. Book online.