Business owners and community members are grieving the sudden loss of Jacob Carter, one of the co-owners of the Tacoma bagel shop, Howdy Bagel.
Carter tragically passed Jan. 5, while vacationing with his husband Daniel Blagovich in New Orleans.
Since Carter’s passing, the community has rallied together in support of Howdy Bagel contributing more than $280,000 to a fundraiser with an original goal of $50,000.
Howdy Bagel became a part of the Tacoma food scene in the last couple of years, hosting pop-ups at farmers' markets before opening their brick-and-mortar location in May 2023. Many restaurants and other local businesses are contributing some of their sales towards the fund.
Katherine Raz owns the plant and flower shop The Fernseed, located down the block from the Howdy Bagel storefront. Raz has been donating all proceeds of flowers purchased for Carter’s memorial outside of Howdy Bagel.
“People began buying flowers almost right away for the memorial as they saw it happening. They were either coming in or buying them online,” Raz said. “It just makes sense naturally if people are buying flowers for that purpose to give our proceeds from those sales to that fund.”
Raz mentioned that a large portion of sales at the shop recently have been flowers for the memorial which has grown in size with candles, cowboy hats, signs, dozens of bouquets, and even bagels.
“I’m just really glad to see the community stepping up and helping. It’s been a really healing feeling in this shop, just to see people coming in and having a space to process,” Raz said.
While many individuals have been contributing financially, or donating the proceeds from their services, others recognize that it isn’t financially possible for everyone. So they are coming up with other ways to support the community in Carter’s memory.
Kat Vigil, a makeup artist who works above the Howdy Bagel shop in the Glitter Beauty Bar and Studio began collecting coats and other cold weather products outside of Howdy Bagel in Carter’s memory. Vigil remembers Carter and his kindness towards them.
“Jake remembered me, even though I had only met him once, he was always so joyful and energetic and happy. I wanted to support this place because it is a queer and safe space and really exudes community, and that’s what he wanted,” Vigil said.
Vigil recalled when Howdy Bagel ran sweater drives to help individuals who may lack warm clothing during the winter months and realized they wanted to do something similar to combat the recent cold snap.
“I saw that Tacoma was in need and I have the capacity to hold space for people. So, I wanted to sit out here and just do my part and collect whatever I can for the community but also honor him [Carter] and hold space with people that need to talk about it,” Vigil said.
Hailey Hernandez, co-owner of Side Piece Kitchen, is hoping to organize an event in the near future to bring small businesses and community members together to create a network to better support businesses that may be going through difficult times.
“Unfortunately, this was a wake-up call for a lot of businesses realizing that we don’t really know how to support each other," Hernandez said. "How can we better support each other?”
Originally conceived to be a telethon, Hernandez realized that a better way to garner support for small businesses would be an event where local businesses can get together to organize, learn more about each other, and discuss the ups and downs of opening a business in Tacoma.
She plans on hosting this event and inviting community members to ask questions, chat, and if inclined to do so, donate towards a similar fund for Howdy Bagel to help businesses during times of need.
While Howdy Bagel is getting the financial support they have requested, Hernandez hopes that this event can provide a foundational support system for Howdy Bagel whenever they return, and other businesses that may be struggling.
Hernandez reflected on her restaurant's journey and that of Howdy Bagel, as they were similar with self-promotion on Instagram, pop-ups, word of mouth, and Kickstarter fundraisers.
Because of this, the two businesses are often linked together. While Hernandez recognizes they weren’t as close as people believe them to be, they all shared a similar understanding of what it was like to open a restaurant in Tacoma.
“My connection to Howdy Bagel exists in understanding, and is the main reason I felt driven to do something,” Hernandez said. “Our connection was nothing but support and they reminded me of the old-school Tacoma. A Tacoma I grew up with, businesses supporting each other.”
