05/28/2023
Holly Springs,
Nine years ago, my wife and I chose Holly Springs for our first restaurant location. We were young, happily naive, and full of excitement. We loved the community, the people, the growth, and saw a need for locally-owned restaurants. Maggie and I got married in October of 2013 and on the plane ride back from our honeymoon I gave her my first pitch for opening a restaurant. With grace, she agreed to discuss this risky opportunity. A few months later, we were crafting a business plan together and dreaming of the day we would serve our first guests. In those early days, we talked about Holly Springs like it was a given, we had to open our first location here. We didn’t even consider another town at the time. I can’t really explain it but we knew we had to start our business here. We fell in love with the community and sense of opportunity this town has to offer. We have been incredibly proud to be a part of this town and are thankful for so many great years.
It’s with that heavy heart I announce our Holly Springs location will be serving its last guests on Sunday, June 4th. To say my heart is heavy making this announcement is quite an understatement. With over eight years of history in this community, we are sad to close this location that is nostalgic to many; however, with our lease expiring at the end of June, we made the tough decision to not renew our lease with the Holly Springs Towne Center. This decision comes for a thousand different reasons, but instead of focusing on those, I am going to do my best to describe what this little restaurant has meant to so many people over the years.
This location started as a dream. This decision has made me nostalgic as of late - reflecting a lot on those months leading up to opening the Holly Springs location. After getting “no’s” from 23 banks and getting friends and family to invest, we finally got the 24th bank to say “yes” and the last investor on board. We DIY’d the renovations and hired our first 39 employees. I remember the overwhelming support from the community in those first few months after opening our doors and take great joy in seeing many of those early supporters enjoying a Blood Orange Margarita on Friday night. From those who filled out our survey online before we even opened to those who ordered to-go food every week during the pandemic, we are forever grateful for your kindness and support. From first dates to wedding proposals, we have loved getting to be a part of your stories. We have had some bumps in the road along the way but through support from folks like you, we’ve always felt joy being in Holly Springs. Whether I run into you at the grocery store or get the chance to serve you at one of our other locations, I hope to get the opportunity to thank you in person for your support.
To all of our past and present staff, I want to personally say “thank you.” Thank you for putting in long hours. Thank you for your patience in those early days as we learned the tough lessons of opening a business. Thank you for your grace and understanding as we worked through covid shutdowns. Thank you for living life with us through the years, sharing in our struggles and successes. As I reflect on all the graduations, confirmation ceremonies, and weddings we have been fortunate enough to be a part of over the years, I am reminded of the family you have all helped create. I think back over the folks we hired for their very first jobs who I now get to see with their own careers, families, and businesses. I am incredibly grateful for being able to be a small part of your lives. Those first 39 employees, those friends and family who took the risk to invest, and those who supported us in those early days helped us grow from one location to six and took a dream and turned it into over 400 jobs. It’s because of you all who have constantly supported us in Holly Springs that we’ve been able to dream bigger and bigger.
We love Holly Springs. As we see this community continue to grow, inviting new great restaurants, we hope to be back here again someday. To all our Holly Springs patrons, we thank you for your support. We hope to see you over the next week as we close this chapter. And for those of you concerned about where to get your buffalo chicken eggroll or s’more in a jar fix, our Fuquay location continues to thrive and is not going anywhere! We hope to be back in Holly Springs in some capacity but in the meantime, you can find a place “where your jar is always full” by visiting Scratch Kitchen and Taproom, TapStation, Mason Jar Lager Co, or Mason Jar Tavern in Fuquay-Varina.
Thank you all for your support,
Jonathan Pierce
Q&A:
1. What happens with all of your staff?
a. Great question! We are proud to be able to offer jobs to our current staff at any of our locations. We are also working with a few of them to find places to work at some of our friends’ restaurants in Holly Springs.
2. Will the Fuquay location remain open?
a. YES! The Fuquay location is thriving. Many of your favorite Holly Springs staff will be relocating to the Downtown Fuquay location.
3. Is 2020 the reason you are closing?
a. Not really? But yes. But also no. The pandemic was the last straw for many restaurants. We were fortunate enough to be able to weather the storm that was 2020/2021 but it definitely didn’t help. At the end of the day, we were in a 10 year lease and the terms just don’t work for our model. We have found we prefer to operate in small downtowns where we can really connect with our local community and work with more local landowners.
4. If you found a place in Holly Springs would you re-open?
a. In some capacity, yes!
5. What restaurant is coming in your space?
a. There are rumors of a few different places but none that we can confirm. The Town Center has been marketing the space and has had lots of interest. Whoever comes into the space, we do truly wish them all the best. The right concept can thrive in this spot! We are also hopeful for some more locally owned spots to open in the center… but we’ll have to see!
