‘We’re trying to absorb as much as we can’: Belmont restaurant owner speaks about coping with inflation

BELMONT, N.C. (WBTV) - Like restauranteurs across the country, John Bailey, owner of Sammy’s Neighborhood Pub in Belmont, has been doing his best to run a business as inflation surges across the country.

Bailey said he has noticed price increases on several items he purchases for his restaurant, but chicken products stand out.

“Anything related to chicken, whether it’s chicken wings because of the Super Bowl right now or just chicken breasts, the price has gone up almost 50 percent on some of those items and it’s been tough to deal with,” explained Bailey in an interview with WBTV Thursday night.

He said chicken wings are a popular item at the restaurant and he expects to sell a lot of them for Super Bowl Weekend. Bailey said he ordered 30 extra cases of wings in preparation for the big weekend.

“The phone rings off the hook. We have chicken wings stacked up to go and people are coming in all the way up to kickoff,” said Bailey.

While items like wings are more expensive for Bailey to keep in stock these days, he does not plan on continuing to raise the prices on his menu.

“Everything is going up in price and we’re trying to absorb as much as we can. We want to take care of our customers. We want them coming in to see us as often as possible, and quite frankly I hate having a price increase every two weeks just because it’s something that seems to spike,” explained the restaurant owner.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual rate of U.S. inflation is rising at its fastest rate in 40 years. For example, federal data shows food prices are up 7.4 percent over last year, gasoline prices are up 40 percent, and used car and truck prices are up more than 40 percent.

Bill Dendy, a Texas-based attorney, and certified public accountant, spoke to WBTV about inflation for the most recent episode of WBTV’s Good Question podcast. He said it’s unclear when the inflation surge will slow down.

“Many companies were bearing the weight of the higher costs and now they’re feeling comfortable to pass it on to the consumer, so the consumer will see probably another month or two of increases and thereafter it’s anybody’s guess as to where we end up,” said Dendy.

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