‘Don’t want to close’: Triangle businesses appeal to community as inflation forces them to close

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) – Shane Bryant, owner of Madame B’s Bakery, worries about the cost of eggs and other baking staples like butter and sugar. Her childhood memories and love of baking made her keep the recipes as they are. It is likely that inflation could force her business to shut down by the end of the month.

“I don’t want to close. I don’t want to close my doors, but I’m not going to change my product for inflation,” Bryant said. “I’ve been baking and cooking since I was 9 years old. Our red velvet cake is our trademark”

This even means that she had to eat the higher cost of the ingredients without increasing the prices. This is Bryant’s third year in business and things have gotten tough. She is hoping for good luck and community support to stay afloat.

“I like to stand up for a quality product. I don’t want the integrity of my product to suffer at all by using a lesser ingredient or anything like that,” she said. On some days, we may have one or two customers come to us all day.”

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It’s community support that helps keep Durham’s Backyard BBQ Pit a staple.

Tanner Britton was first introduced to the restaurant when he was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill. Now he works in the immediate vicinity of the restaurant and often dines there.

“The barbecue is top notch and probably my favorite in the Triangle,” Britton said.

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The restaurant was on the verge of closing, but after enlisting the support of the community and starting a GoFundMe page six days ago, it raised more than $30,000.

“Oh, I was on the verge of closing,” said Fabian Simmons, the restaurant’s owner. “Backyard would no longer exist. The community touched my heart so much. I don’t want to worry now. For other businesses, the community is our strength. Our hope.”