With no new home in sight, it’s the last week for Briggs Hardware in downtown Raleigh
After 155 years in business, Briggs Hardware may be looking at its final week of operation in downtown Raleigh.
Owner Evelyn Davis, a sixth-generation descendant of the store’s founder, Thomas H. Briggs, will close the store this week.
The News & Observer first reported on July 11 that Davis’ lease is up on the 111 E. Hargett Street shop, and that she was looking for another spot for the business downtown.
Davis confirmed this week that her efforts to find another location downtown have so far come up empty. She told The News & Observer this week that she has no update on her search for a new location.
The Briggs Hardware Twitter account posted on Twitter on Tuesday that the store’s last day open in its current location will be Saturday, July 26. Through Saturday, everything in the store is marked 50% off, excluding disinfecting and COVID-related supplies.
Briggs Hardware started on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh in 1865, moving from that original location to the corner of Six Forks Road and Atlantic Avenue in 1995. That location closed in the summer of 2015 and Davis reopened in a much smaller spot at the current Hargett Street location just a couple of months later.
The store has been part hardware store, part general store, part gift shop for downtown Raleigh workers, residents and visitors for the past five years. Davis runs the store with her husband, Stuart Davis, who also rents out as the store handyman. The Davis’ yellow lab, Ellie May, nearly always snoozing near the front door, rounds out the Briggs trio.
Briggs, like other downtown Raleigh businesses, has struggled since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The situation worsened when downtown protests on May 30 over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis turned destructive and many businesses along Fayetteville Street and surrounding streets were damaged and looted. Davis told ABC11 in June that in the week after the destructive protests, her store did $25 in business.
A number of downtown Raleigh restaurants that closed because of COVID-19 have announced that they will not reopen, including Chuck’s Burgers, Jose & Sons, High Horse, Oakwood Cafe, Virgil’s Original Taqueria and Linus & Peppers.
Davis has spoken out about the police response to the May 30 destruction, but has remained a booster for downtown businesses and people.
In the days after the May 30 riot shut down businesses, Davis put out free water and snacks for anyone who needed them, and has tweeted recently asking people to bring water, snacks and sandwiches to Briggs to distribute to those who typically rely on the downtown soup kitchen for their meals.
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 11:35 AM.
