When Artie and Nicole Januario found themselves unexpectedly unemployed at the same time this past winter, the situation initially seemed like a disaster. After all, Artie had just started a new business, the brand Artie Bars, shortly after leaving a job in tech, and Nicole’s income and insurance from a marketing gig had been keeping the duo afloat—until she, too, was laid off.
Instead of panicking, the Raleigh couple decided to turn the sour news into something, well, sweet.
“It ended up being a beautiful, poetic part of the Artie Bars story,” Nicole says, speaking alongside her husband on a recent Zoom call. “Life pushes you where you’re meant to be.”
In the Januarios’ case, that “meant to be” place included a widely seen Wall Street Journal feature on millionaire shortbread that highlighted Artie Bars; the piece was published in March, just one week after Nicole lost her job. The viral story—which came as a surprise result of the journalist trying (and loving) the product—led to the duo selling out a year’s worth of Artie Bars in only three days, a production flurry that wouldn’t have been possible if Nicole hadn’t been able to join her husband as a full-time employee. Since then, the company has continued to expand, with the luxurious treats now available in numerous Triangle shops and shipped nationwide.
“We want to be a household name,” says Artie, 39. That goal may sound lofty, but anyone who’s tried an Artie Bar will get the hype. A take on millionaire shortbread, which has three layers of shortbread, caramel, and chocolate ganache, the nearly half-pound behemoth is so rich and indulgent that a single bite feels filling—not that it’s possible to stop at just one. “You can eat the whole thing if you’re not a quitter,” jokes Nicole, 36.
When Artie started baking as a hobby in 2018, he never expected to end up homing in on a specialty product that takes 24 hours to make by hand. Yet after watching a Great British Baking Show challenge involving millionaire shortbread, he was intrigued by the idea of a multilayer treat with seemingly infinite flavor options that’s ubiquitous in the UK but little known in America. As an experiment, Artie made a “big, honkin’ tray” of bars for him and his soon-to-be wife, Nicole. She took one bite, looked at Artie, and said, “These are amazing—never make them again, because I’m going to gain 400 pounds.”
The positive feedback fueled Artie to keep perfecting the recipe, which he continued to test out on family and friends in the couple’s former home of Austin, Texas. At a holiday party featuring the much-loved shortbread, a guest asked for a custom order for her son’s birthday, causing Artie and Nicole to realize the treats’ potential. They immediately got to work making the bars in bulk and building a website to sell them to the masses.
“People would tell us, ‘What are these things?! I’ve never had anything like this before,’” Nicole recounts. “They’re amazing.”
The Januarios officially launched Artie Bars in 2024, two years after moving (with their Bernese mountain dog, Nelson) to their southwest Raleigh home. Using Nicole’s background in publicity and marketing, they introduced the treats—now available in eight flavors like peanut butter and s’mores, plus special editions—everywhere from corporate offices to farmers’ markets. Shoppers can find full- or bite-sized versions of the bars in several Raleigh shops, including Heirloom, Vita Vite, and Willow House Coffee; at the latter, customers who’ve ordered Artie Bars online can also pick them up for free rather than pay for shipping. Eventually, Artie and Nicole say, they hope to expand to boutique grocers such as the Butcher’s Market, among others.
Getting to collaborate with so many other local businesses has been hugely appealing, the couple adds. “People here are really committed to helping build Raleigh up, and that’s something that’s really attractive as a business owner,” says Nicole. “We all truly help one another grow.”
Right now, Artie Bars remains a two-person operation (save for the occasional part-time help during busy periods), with Artie spending days at the bakery and Nicole spearheading the brand’s strategy. Yet no matter how much time the couple spends creating, testing, and talking about their treats, they both say that they don’t get sick of them.
“There are days when I never want to look at one again, because I’m just locked in creating it, but then I’ll take a bite and I’m like, ‘Man, this is really good,’” Artie says with a laugh.
Adds Nicole: “As our former tagline used to say: it’s a freakin’ treat.”
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