There’s no time like the presents to start your holiday shopping! So we tapped Curate—a one-stop DTR shop that curates gifts (hence the name!) crafted by local artisans—for its top local gift picks… so you can channel your inner Santa Claus while supporting local. #Sleigh!
Burrow on down to this new creative space and market.
“Just come down here once,” Julian Jacobs says of his newly opened mixed retail and entertainment space The Burrow. “We’re doing so much that there has to be one thing you like.”
Aptly named—given its location tucked under the former DTR House of Swank building on Hargett Street—The Burrow really does have a lot to offer. Think weekly Saturday and Sunday markets (plus some Fridays—and a holiday market Dec. 23) with upward of 18 local vendors, hot yoga classes every Wednesday morning with Oak City Yoga, and a house party every Thursday night dubbed Rabbit Whole & Friends featuring live DJs.
Not only does the hip new spot serve up a host of activities, The Burrow also doubles as a creative incubator—providing local makers, artists, etc. with a space to showcase their passions to the public. Jacobs himself is one of those creatives. A former chef/baker, he left the food and beverage world to start selling vintage clothing in 2020—and before bowing The Burrow also co-founded Unorthodox Vintage, a collab between his OG thrifting venture Sir Chance’s and She Thrifty Apparel.
When he thought of the idea for The Burrow—what Jacobs explains as a mashup of now-closed Neptune’s and Imurg, and NYC’s Artist & Fleas makers market—he already had multiple fellow business owners he knew would jump at the opportunity to be a part of the innovative concept.
Seeing a gap in Raleigh’s market, Jacobs bought the space in August and opened it two months later to much fanfare. “The community needed something new,” he says, “and I hope this gets the ball rolling for the next group of people who come to Raleigh.”
Having been in the pop-up biz himself (Sir Chance’s started out at the Pop-Up Shops at Martin Street), Jacobs admits he “hates pop-ups,” so one of the main features of The Burrow is more permanent space for vendors.
Currently, Frills Atelier, Ghost Gillz, Custom Bella Creations,Castelli Boutique, and Safe ‘N’ Sound Rugs serve as anchor tenants, while various other small businesses sell their goods at the markets, house parties and other events. Eventually, Jacobs also wants to host classes within the space (think art, drawing, candle- and soap-making classes) in which “local business owners can come down and show their trade,” he says.
“One of the big reasons I wanted to do this is because I really believe in entrepreneurship,” explains Jacobs. “I believe that if someone wants to leave their job and open their own business, I’m like, well come here and we’re gonna try to help you to do that.” Talk about giving local biz a leg up. theburrownc.square.site
Through the grant, DRA hopes to not only incentivize and attract new retail, restaurant and service businesses, but support pop-ups, and minority- and women-owned businesses; and encourage a good economic flow in DTR.
“We greatly admire the tenacity and creativity storefront business owners bring to Downtown,” says DRA VP of Economic Development Will Gaskins. “Their contribution brings tremendous value to our community, and we are thrilled to support them.”
In addition to that $32,500 grant, DRA has also awarded $60,000 in the last fiscal year to nine downtown storefront businesses in alignment with its mission to advance the vibrancy of Downtown Raleigh, as, after all, it takes a lot of cash to run a business. So, local businesses get a leg up, and we get another excuse to shop local!
“I have boot-strapped nearly everything about my business,” says Copperline owner Anna Grace FitzGerald. “Receiving the DRA Upfit Grant relieves some of the financial burden of starting the brick-and-mortar aspect of Copperline Plant Company and it affirms that my work is meaningful within Downtown Raleigh.”
The deadline to apply for DRA’s next round of funding through the Storefront Upfit Grant is Nov. 1—and a total of $57,500 in funding remains for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. Now how’s that for some #LocalLove?!
New app ReUp is dedicated to creating a fully inclusive way to online shop from small businesses.
“Add to cart” is no doubt de rigueur. But it’s not without its pitfalls—no reviews or photos, less than credible sellers, glitchy websites and even super-delayed shipping. If only there was a way to find a plethora of reviewed products with photos, videos and descriptions…
Knepley got the idea for ReUp after frequenting Downtown retail and pop-ups to then discover finding those products outside of the occasional markets… well, the struggle was real. “Going to pop-ups in Downtown Raleigh, I became friends with vendors and saw their products, but could only buy them at pop-up events,” says Knepley. “I figured there had to be a better way for these vendors to sell, so I thought of ReUp.”
Knepley’s goal with the innovative retail app is to create a shopping experience that is entirely inclusive and offers a large variety of products while curating your feed to what you want to see and shop. “I made sure that ReUp is all-inclusive—it represents businesses owned by LGBTQ+ members, women and minorities,” she says. “There’s also over 14 different categories of products, so there’s something out there for everyone.”
The market pioneer also hopes to give small businesses an opp to gain a following and sell products outside of physical boundaries by implementing “frictionless shopping”—meaning that purchasing a product is just one click away (!).
“Every vendor can go live, and their followers can interact with them in real time and get a gauge on their products,” says Knepley. “The idea of going to the store is fading away, so ReUp allows you to interact when you can’t physically go to a store.” Translation? Retail therapy just got a whole lot easier. joinreup.com
Why does it take so long to open a business in Raleigh?
Notice businesses never open when we say they’re going to? Like a black hole—from application to that ever-elusive opening date—the permitting process has been a huge frustration for Raleigh business owners for years, only exacerbated by the city’s rapid growth.
Some Raleigh business owners feel there’s a power play happening within the City of Raleigh (COR) Planning and Development office. According to a local corporate hospitality group, when calling the planning office for an update on their permitting application, “it feels like I’m rocking the boat—they’ll stall me.” (Note: Given applicants’ fears of being stalled by speaking out, all have been kept anonymous.)
While entrepreneurs across the city—from 2,000-square-foot small-businesses owners to full-fledged restaurateurs to large developers—are exasperated with the permitting process, the city offers a different narrative. COR Assistant Director for Continuous Improvement and Customer Service Karen Ray maintains that the planning department processes applications in the order received. “If somebody calls me and says, ‘Hey, this hasn’t been processed,’ and I see that it’s exceeded our goal timeline, I go ahead and assign it to somebody and have them take care of it that day,” she says.
Owner experience doesn’t add up. One retailer says they paid rent for months before they were allowed to open as they waded through the red tape. “It’s a difficult road to navigate,” says another local small-business owner of the permitting process—which COR Director of Planning and Development Patrick Young acknowledges: “It’s very frustrating to go through a permitting process,” he says.
Despite the lengthy procedure, which can take anywhere from two to six months—or longer—and is largely dependent on whether we’re talking a new build, existing building with change of use, or existing building with the same use, the city is not seeing any significant delays, according to Young. Adds COR Assistant Director for Building Safety Jason Ruff, “If there are several reviews where it’s back and forth with designers to correct things to get it ready to permit, that can feel like a delay.”
To add to the stress of the time-consuming process, it’s expensive, and many business owners emphasize that the city has a “one-size-fits-all” approach to opening a new business. “The small guy gets caught in the same net of processes as the big developers building a 40-story building,” says a local entrepreneur. Case in point: You might remember when Scott Crawford lost around $750,000 in revenue when opening Jolie due to delays.
So while city council is infamous for being pro-growth and -development, many local business owners mention moving outside the city to open their businesses because it’s cheaper and easier. “I would think that a city driven by so much technology would foster an environment of creativity and forward thinking,” says a local hospitality group owner. “Instead, it feels like they’re gatekeepers.”
Of course, like with all endeavors, as one restaurateur noted, it’s advantageous to have a seasoned team to navigate the tedium. The city is working on a startup guide that’ll hopefully be deployed within the year or to assist first-time business owners with the process.
Young points out that business openings are at or above historic all-time highs, and acknowledges that the city is tight on resources. To keep up with the volume, the planning department also authorized overtime for building inspectors and reviewers, and made administrative changes to its customer service center to be more customer-oriented and timely on getting people’s questions answered.
Ultimately, there’s still lots of work to be done. “It’s still our city and I’m proud of it,” says a local restaurant owner. “I’d just rather work with them than fight with them. We need to work together.”
