Downtown Raleigh\u2019s restaurant scene is continuing to shrink as longtime
\nbusinesses say rising costs and declining foot traffic are making it harder to
\nstay open.<\/p>\n
Just this As more Inside\u00a0Simons Says Dip This, customers can \u201cIt\u2019s a Audrey \u201c2025 The \u201cWe Business \u201cThe In \u201cWe The \u201cIf Simons For any
\nmonth, two well-known restaurants \u2014\u00a0Beasley\u2019s
\nChicken & Honey<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Clyde Cooper\u2019s Barbecue<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 announced they are
\nclosing their downtown locations, citing increased expenses and economic
\nchallenges.<\/p>\n
\nbusinesses leave the area, one local dessert shop is stepping in with a
\ncreative effort to support fellow small businesses.<\/p>\n
\nchoose from an almost endless combination of flavors and toppings \u2014 from
\nbutterscotch and pistachio to cookies and cream and funfetti birthday cake.
\nNearly 30 toppings are available, many of them made in-house.<\/p>\n
\nlot because we do everything ourselves,\u201d co-owner\u00a0Audrey Simons said. \u201cWe\u2019re making the
\ncookies, the chocolates, some of the toppings. A lot of it is a labor of love.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nand her husband,\u00a0Nathan Simons,
\nopened their first location in downtown Durham in 2021. After finding success
\nthere, they expanded to downtown Raleigh last year. But they say the timing has
\nbeen challenging.<\/p>\n
\nwas a very, very difficult year,\u201d Nathan said. \u201cMost people are aware that the
\neconomy has struggled quite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSimons say they\u2019ve seen firsthand how conditions for small businesses downtown
\nhave changed \u2014 and not for the better.<\/p>\n
\ndefinitely saw a big drop,\u201d Nathan said. \u201cIt really pains me to see local
\nrestaurants say, \u2018OK, we have to close.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\nowners cite a growing list of pressures, including increased rent, higher
\ninsurance and supply costs, reduced foot traffic, and ongoing parking concerns.
\nEven staple ingredients are becoming more expensive.<\/p>\n
\ncost of chocolate has gone through the roof,\u201d Audrey said. \u201cWe\u2019re doing our
\nbest not to increase our prices. We don\u2019t want to scare anybody. We\u2019re hoping
\n2026 is going to be a better year for inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nresponse, the Simons launched a campaign aimed at encouraging people to shop
\nlocal. Customers who dine at any locally owned restaurant can bring their
\nreceipt into Simons Says Dip This and receive\u00a020% off\u00a0their purchase.<\/p>\n
\nwanted to get as many people out to locally owned restaurants,\u201d Nathan said.
\n\u201cWhat makes the Triangle so unique is the local restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ncouple hopes the effort helps raise awareness about the importance of
\nsupporting local businesses before more are forced to close.<\/p>\n
\nthese restaurants and shops go away, where are you going to go?\u201d Audrey said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re the backbone of these cities, and we have to keep them alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSays Dip This plans to run the campaign for the next\u00a0three months, with a\u00a0giveaway at the end of each month for\u00a0participants.<\/p>\n
\nlocal businesses that have ideas or want to participate, they are encouraged to
\ncontact Simons Says Dip This.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Downtown Raleigh\u2019s restaurant scene is continuing to shrink as longtime businesses say rising costs and declining foot traffic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,185168,2402,26625,51876,4322,12191],"class_list":["post-401955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-downtown-raleigh","tag-inflation","tag-local-businesses","tag-raleigh","tag-restaurants","tag-small-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}