ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For small businesses in the Tampa Bay area, the past few months have been tough — even with inflation rates trending down.
Cosmic Donuts in St. Petersburg opened in the thick of the pandemic. The owner, Jason Dudley, said he thought the toughest times were behind him after his business survived lockdowns and low sales.
"The cost of goods and overhead has gone up more and people aren't able to spend as much so that does take an effect on us local businesses and small businesses," Dudley said, speaking about costs and sales in recent months.
According to the National Federation of Independent Business's December report, inflation is the single most important business problem for owners. Small business optimism is lower now than it was in April 2020.
"At the beginning of the pandemic when nobody knew what would happen next, that index was low, but not as low as it was last month," Victor Claar, associate professor of economics at Florida Gulf Coast University, said.
Dudley's donut shop sells everything from baked goods to breakfast sandwiches and an assortment of coffees. With a lot of items requiring eggs as an ingredient, the rising cost to purchase eggs in bulk is felt across the menu.
"They were anywhere from $8 to $10," Dudley said in regards to how much 60 eggs cost, "to now sometimes they're $25."
A lot of other items are pricier too, like the plastic to-go cups that iced coffee is served in.
"There are some times where they're $45 when we first started to all the way up to $145 at some times for the same amount of products," Dudley said.
It's not just the items behind the counter costing businesses. Small businesses are feeling the hurt on both sides of the counter.
"Consumerism is really struggling because when inflation is as high as it's been lately," Claar said.
Dudley said customers are spending less, likely because of, you guessed it, inflation. He said sales have dropped 20 percent in recent months.
"Not only just foot traffic through the store but also Uber Eats, Doordash, those things too," Dudley said.
Claar said while inflation is slowing, it doesn't mean prices will drop.
"Small and medium businesses of all kinds, remain uncertain of what's going to happen with the economy, when, and most of all, what's going to happen with prices and price stability over time."
In the meantime, businesses like Cosmic Donuts are doing what they can to stay afloat.