18/02/2024
More gaslighting from Ward 7, Steven Tyler Holman.
Among closures, Main Street bakery flourishes in Norman
OLIVIA MCCOURRY
TRANSCRIPT ASST. EDITOR
With concerns rising about the survival of local businesses in Norman, a business in the heart of downtown is thriving.
Byrdie’s Bakery, located at 318 E. Main St., celebrated its one-year anniversary on Feb. 1 and is looking forward to more growth in the future.
“We’re in our first year and figuring out what works,” said Nikki Griggs, owner of Byrdie’s.
Griggs grew up working and waiting tables in her mother’s bakery Raspberries n’ Cream in Oklahoma City, which inspires a lot of the creations Griggs makes in her own business, she said.
Right now their signature cake is the Ribbon Cake, a milk chocolate cake layered with Italian cream, strawberries and whipped cream, a throwback to her mother’s bakery.
Griggs doesn’t miss the chance to offer new creations either such as a brownie concoction layered with caramel, fudge, cheesecake, cream and pecans, that she describes as “a little bit of heaven.”
She said she loves having her bakery in Norman because of its “totally different atmosphere.”
Despite the success, Griggs said that recent closures of local businesses is still “scary.”
See BAKERY on A2
BAKERY
CONTINUED FROM A1
“I hear people talk about local businesses in Norman, especially since all the closures and so people are getting more worried,” she said.
The 405 Burger Bar, Penny Hill Deli and Nashbird Chicken are among those who have closed their doors in early 2024.
According to Councilmember Stephen T. Holman, Ward 7, the phenomenon is “somewhat of an anomaly.”
“I’m not sure how to explain it. But you know, we all know that local businesses and local small businesses are definitely struggling. A lot of them are. Some are doing better than ever,” he said.
Holman added that the City is in its third year of bringing in record sales tax revenue at the same time of these closures.
In response to Byrdie’s anniversary, he said it was “really good to hear that they’re doing well. It’s a business I’m really glad to have on Main Street.”
Main Street as a neighborhood benefits from a lot of the city events and its walkability which can help local businesses, he said.
When asked if other areas of Norman could develop those same advantages, he said it would be more of a “challenge.”
“Campus Corner or Main Street they’re built to the human scale. And you know, everything’s in close proximity and buildings and stores are right there. It’s easy to close the street at Campus Corner especially… but you know, we can still try to promote things and events if we can organize them anyway, that are going on in different areas of the city,” he said.
Holman said that the city is in the process of developing a TIF district master plan that could help with economic development despite some risk.
“There could be other things that a TIF funding mechanism could help with, whether it be, you know, funding that can be available to property owners to update their storefronts or whoever owns a big strip mall, they could redo the facade or do better landscaping, signage, stuff like that. That could be accomplished through a TIF, I think, and it would kind of fit the original intent of the TIF by reinvesting in an existing area that needs a little help,” he said.
Other council members, like Michael Nash, Ward 5, are more unsettled about the fate of local businesses.
In a text message he wrote that there’s “lots of disruptive markets interfering in ways that local enterprises have difficulty adapting to, paired with macroeconomic factors that influence businesses that control local markets to their detriment and, in some cases, destruction. The economy, housing cost of living, cost of goods, etc.”
In his own written statement, Scott Martin, president of the Norman Chamber of Commerce said: “Despite inf lationary costs, supply chain issues, workforce shortages, and local strains; Norman businesses are doing everything they can to survive and thrive to better serve their customers. Norman is home to some of the most innovative, customer service-oriented businesses in our state.
“They regularly go above and beyond to exceed the expectations of their clients. Now more than ever we need to step up and support our locally owned and managed businesses, they are doing everything to support the community, and are the thread that makes Norman a one-of-a-kind community.”
Griggs said she has big plans for the growth and development of Byrdie’s. This includes getting involved with delivery services like Door-Dash, adding a coffee bar and an occasional breakfast and brunch menu.
At this current time, the bakery serves lunch and ready-made dishes and casseroles along with their baked goods and cake orders.
“The simplest thing is people have to support small businesses. And maybe sometimes it costs a little more which makes it hard for people to support small businesses. But small businesses can’t compete with Walmart on prices and unless you want our whole city to be Walmarts and corporate out-of-state chains, we have to kind of decide,” Holman said.
A customer makes an order March 2 at the counter of Byrdie’s Bakery
