Last Monday, patrons of C&H Cafeteria were horrified to learn, via a sign taped to the door, that pandemic-induced financial difficulties had resulted in a sudden and permanent closure of their favorite after-church spot.
This week, an eerily similar tale: J. Lights Market & Cafe, a casual eatery known for elevating American lunch fare to peak form, shut its doors for good on Wednesday, ending a two-year run in the Golden Belt Campus. The closure was abrupt for customers, who learned the news from a picture of a “closed” sign posted on the cafe’s Instagram page—and for J. Lights employees, who were not informed of the closure until the day of.
The other J. Lights location, which launched two months ago in Raleigh’s Smoky Hollow complex, remains open.
Owner Jared Burton says he didn’t decide to close the Durham location until Tuesday of this week, when it became clear that sustaining operations in both cities was not financially feasible. He’s currently working to find new jobs for his former employees.
Winter is a notoriously slow season for restaurants, Burton says, and it’s been difficult to stay afloat throughout the pandemic. In Durham, the cafe’s business model—designed before the onset of the pandemic—relied heavily on employee-driven foot traffic. Burton envisioned that nearby workers would grab a cobb salad or a turkey club sandwich on their lunch breaks; meet up for drinks and karaoke during happy hour; or pick up a pack of IPAs from the “market” corner of the cafe before heading home.
FOOD & DRINK: Casualties of a Pandemic
“But after that second round of COVID came through, the office staff just never really came back,” Burton says.
He saw greener pastures in Smoky Hollow and signed a lease for the second J. Lights location in 2021. But due to inflation and a host of pandemic-related setbacks, the build-out was costlier and lengthier than expected, which added pressure to an already tense financial situation.
After an initial two months of service at Smoky Hollow, though, Burton feels confident that the venue meshes well with his concept.
“We’ve seen our brunch program really take off, and our breakfast program,” Burton says. “It’s a beautiful campus, and we’ve got 700 and some odd apartments above us.”
To the Durham patrons and employees whose support enabled J. Lights to launch a more promising second edition at Smoky Hollow, Burton expresses gratitude.
“We had some very, very loyal people that came out to Golden Belt, and we had phenomenal staff. Being there on the weekends and seeing all the families hanging out on the patio—I’ll miss those days.”
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