The long awaited MaGerks Pub & Grill is just days away from opening. After originally announcing an open date of June 2018, additional add-ons forced the opening to be pushed back.
"We started doing one thing after another, and we realized more and more we had to do more," said Sammerah Qawasmy, general manager of MaGerks Elon. "We got more familiar with the area in Burlington and in Elon and more of what was needed here, and we realized we had to pull out all of the stops."
With other locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland, Elon will be the first MaGerks on a college campus. However, Qawasmy said instead of appealing directly to students, MaGerks will try and bring in others who may come through the campus. “We want to be the fun place that all the students hang out and enjoy each other's company, but we are going for the alumni, we’re going for the teachers. There’s a community that lives here in Elon that wants a place to go.” With that being said, 85 percent of their employees will be students.
MaGerks is planning numerous specials to appeal to those students who not only plan to come but who are also on a budget. But that doesn’t mean there will be a lack in service. “It’s not a challenge. Everybody wants the same type of experience; everyone wants the same service, and we can still provide that,” Qawasmy said.
Despite the summer season, MaGerks isn’t worried about sustaining business through the slow months. “I think that there is a stigma that the town dies down,” Qawasmy said. “We’ve been here the entire summer, and the week after school ends, it's quiet, and then another two weeks into summer, it starts to pick up with a lot of the local families coming in.”
MaGerks will replace the West End Terrace, which closed their doors in July 2017. When asked about the closing of MaGerks' previous tenants, Qawasmy said, “I don’t know the scenario of how it closed or went down. On the same note, I know that we are MaGerks. We are who we are. I have nothing to do with them and how they did things.”
Physically, Magerks is ready. Now they are waiting until the inspections and permits go through before they can open. MaGerks is planning to open late this week.