Exeter Town Grapples with Inflation
By: CASPAR BAILEY, ROHIT KANTAMNENI, CJ SMITH, and HARRY WALKER
Since the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic, having confronted restrictions on business operations, the town of Exeter has changed significantly. Over the past few months, businesses have come and gone here at Exeter all while the cost of living has drastically increased. Supply chain shortages and rising inflation have led to price increases across-the-board, affecting Academy students and townspeople alike.
Exonian favorites, such as Stillwell’s and Capital Thai, have marked up items on their menus. Jay McSharry, owner of newly opened Street Restaurant, commented on the ramifications of inflation on his establishment: “All pay has gone up 20 percent, and food costs have certainly gone up. Unfortunately, we have to pass some of those costs onto the consumer… and we’ve really seen prices jump.”
Indeed, labor shortages have plagued local businesses since the onset of the pandemic. McSharry expressed his concern over staffing shortages: “We’re not open Sunday or Monday yet, and that’s due to staffing. We would be open more if we had more kitchen staff.”
Assistant Dean of Student Life Christina Breen explained that staffing issues exist in the larger Exeter area. “It’s all connected to the pandemic and labor shortage. Green Bean closed because they didn’t have enough people to work there,” Breen said.
Due to rapid increase in consumer activity and the global supply chains’ inability to keep up after the pandemic, businesses still struggle to meet customer demand. Todd Wagner, owner of Exeter Cycles, acknowledged the difficulties in keeping up with requests for bikes during the early months of the pandemic. “Nobody anticipated that kind of demand globally for bikes that resulted from the pandemic, so shops like ours sold all of their inventory in a very short period of time, a matter of months. We soon faced global supply chain issues, such as production interruptions, shipping delays, and increased costs for everything,” Wagner said.
All of these issues have concurred with a troubling trend in Exeter: rising real estate prices. According to Zumper, the largest privately owned rental property in North America, the average price for a one-bedroom apartment in Exeter is now $1700/month, a 26 percent increase from last year. These rent increases have also affected Exeter businesses, and it has played a large part in higher prices for consumers. This also constitutes a major reason as to why small businesses are choosing to leave Exeter. “We have seen increases in rent in all of our locations. In the Exeter location property tax, electric, gas, plowing, landscaping and more have all increased dramatically,” Matt Burke, owner of Las Olas Taqueria, shared. The shaky demand as a result of the pandemic lockdowns further puts their operations under stress.
The town offers students refuge from the day-to-day routine on campus, and offers variability for student life. Recently, with prices on the rise, some Exonians have found themselves without the wherewithal to venture into town. Lower Erin Chen noted that price increases in town had forced her to further economize on adventures into town this year: “I’m more concerned because I’m a student worker and I used to be able to buy a lot more with my weekly wage.”
Lower Lionel Hearon agreed. “I think the people of Exeter, including me, are mad about prices rising,” he said.
As effects from the pandemic begin to subside, and real estate prices are projected to decline, there is some hope that establishments in town may soon return to offering more affordable options. However, there is no telling how soon we may see a change. “If I have to go without Lexie’s for a long time, I’m not sure what I’m going to have to do,” senior Anderson Lynch concluded.
