Raleigh businesses still recovering a year after boarding up for protests

One year later, some businesses in downtown Raleigh are still in recovery mode.

According to Downtown Raleigh Alliance, the recovery process is uneven across the board.

Areas like the Warehouse District are experiencing pre-pandemic sales, while Fayetteville Street has been struggling to rebound and some businesses are still boarded up.

Bill King with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance says there remains a perception that downtown is largely boarded up, but that 96% of the plywood boards are now down.

King made a presentation before Raleigh City Council earlier this month. He says Fayetteville Street had been struggling even before the pandemic.

Officials are working to improve the downtown economy using recruitment and marketing strategies to get more foot traffic.

"We're doing everything to get people back in those businesses," King said. "We have several marketing campaigns coming up."

Demonstrators gathered Sunday night to mark the one-year anniversary of the protests.

Ilina Ewen lives in Raleigh and says she wants to support justice.

"My husband and two sons, we have participated in almost every march and protest as a way to just show our solidarity and show that we care about the issue," Ewen said.

She and other demonstrators say they’re calling for an end to police violence targeting Black people.

"We don't want to be those performative people," she said. "We know the people who are organizers and speakers and directly affected by police violence and other such institutional racism in our community, we want to show our support to them."