Charlotte Black Restaurant Week (CBRW), an annual event supporting Black-owned restaurants, announced via Instagram that this year’s event has been postponed due to the ongoing government shutdown and inflation.
The shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, is entering its fourth week, with federal workers now starting to miss paychecks.
“Charlotte Black Restaurant Week has been postponed due to challenges stemming from the government shutdown and inflation,” the organization said in the statement. “We appreciate your continued support and encourage everyone to be intentional in supporting Black-owned restaurants during these challenging times.”
This year’s Charlotte Black Restaurant Week was initially planned for Oct. 20 through Nov. 2, and was then moved to start on Oct. 26. In announcing the latest postponement, organizers did not provide a new timeline.
This is the second time in the event’s nine-year history that it has been postponed. Last year’s event was delayed due to the impact of Hurricane Helene.
Some background
Cathay Dawkins, president and Chair of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Black Chamber of Commerce, created Charlotte Black Restaurant Week in 2017 with 25 participating restaurants as a way to encourage the community to support Black-owned restaurants. Participating restaurants agreed to offer deep discounts off their menu prices.
According to the event’s former website, which is no longer active, restaurants that participated in the first-year event served approximately 40,000 people and generated more than $725,000 in revenue.
Charlotte Black Restaurant Week originated from Black Business Owners of Charlotte Marketplace, a Facebook group that Dawkins created to connect Charlotte residents with local Black business owners to buy, sell, and trade goods and services. Today, the group has 27,500 members.
QCity Metro attempted to contact Dawkins for comment but did not receive a response.
