Well Known Charlotte Doughnut Shop Is Closing After Nearly 10 Years

I, like most people, can't resist a delicious doughnut. And, I hate to see any business have to shut its doors because of declining sales. But, a well known Charlotte doughnut shop closing after nearly 10 years says that's the reason they are shutting their doors.

It's Charlotte's Pepperbox Doughnuts & Coffee. And, according to The Charlotte Observer, Pepperbox says, "After nearly 8 years of serving delicious doughnuts and coffee to the city and people we love, we are unfortunately closing our doors at the end of this month. Our last day will be October 31,"

The team pointed to drastically declining sales over the past 2 years. They opened in South End Charlotte in 2019 offering a variety of vegan options as well as tasty yeast-raised doughnuts. Their other location in NoDa closed in May, too. They had hoped things would improve by consolidating into one location. Sadly, that's not the case.

This Charlotte doughnut shop closing expressed their gratitude for the time they had with the community over the last few years. And, they encourage everyone to come in before they close this month for another visit.

Pepperbox will be missed. And, we certainly hope they'll resurface in the future. But, at this time, there are no announcements about future plans for the business. Of course, we wish them well with this well known Charlotte doughnut shop closing.

I have to admit, the Charlotte doughnut game is strong. And, I can see how highly competitive the market is for the consumer dollar. We have quite a few doughnut, coffee and cookie shops in fairly close proximity to each other in Uptown.

Very near our work is The Salty on the corner across from Flower Child. And, not too far away is Krispy Kreme and Insomnia Cookies. But, in my opinion, there's always room for more delicious doughnuts!

Friday, June 2 is National Donut Day, and ahead of the celebration, Yelp released its second annual Top 100 US Donut Shops list. And apparently, NC has some delicious donuts. One North Carolina Donut shop was named the second-best in the entire country. The highly praised donuts come to us from Asheville. And 2nd best, that's some high praise. They weren't alone as 5 total North Carolina places made Yelp's list. This includes donuts from Asheville, Fayetteville, and Concord among others.

Did you know there are donut trends? There sure are! According to Yelp the biggest donut trends in 2023 are:

While my current favorite donut spot, The Salty, didn't make the cut, I'll be sure to check out a couple of these locations. I enjoy a good gourmet donut but I also can't turn down a hot now Krispy Kreme glazed donut. There just might not be anything better! The best donut I've had lately- a butterbeer one from the previously mentioned The Salty. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for my waistline) it was a limited-time offering. So how did Yelp come up with these ratings that ranked a North Carolina Donut Shop 2nd best in the country? According to Yelp, they "identified businesses in the donuts category, then ranked those spots using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews between January 1st, 2022 and March 31st, 2023."

Keep reading to see the top 10 donut shops in the US and the other North Carolina locations that were recognized.

Have you tried HOLE? I haven't but I typically visit Asheville at least once a year so I will definitely be adding this to my list for my next visit!

This is the second time Superior Bakery in Fayetteville has made the top 100 list, though that took a substantial jump this year.

Apparently, I'm not up on my donuts, while Raleigh is my second home, I've never tried Baker's Dozen either.