Meiklejohn's Closed
June 11, 2009
Eric Villard

Any recent visitors to Meiklejohn’s have been met with dimmed lights and a dry-erase board with a single word: “Closed.”

With seemingly no explanation and almost overnight, the pub, located in the Eldersburg Plaza shopping center in between CVS Pharmacy and Buffalo Wings and Beer, shut its doors to the public on Memorial Day. Not even its business neighbors could offer an explanation for the pub’s disappearance, and they were mum in discussing the matter.

Previous closure

Seem like déjà vu? Not too long ago the pub was in a similar state after being unable to pay debt to Baltimore Gas and Electric that was acquired when the owners, Grant and Josh Gursky, bought the establishment from the Chop House in December of 2005. That time, the Gurskys were forced to close down because of no electricity. This time they chose to shut down. That time, Meiklejohn’s was closed for about a week. This time, according to Grant Gursky, it’s for good.

This time around

Gursky stressed that the closure had nothing to do with financial or licensing issues, as some had been led to believe. This is in contrast to a recent Carroll County Times article outlining Meiklejohn's financial woes. As the Carroll County Times reported, Gursky had been presented with a business opportunity on May 20, 2009 that he could not turn down. In a phone interview he explained that now was a good time to move on and closing it during the summer made sense financially.

“The timing of our closure coincides with nothing other than we felt the timing was right for us,” Gursky explained.

The old Meiklejohn's establishment will likely be missed, and for Gursky it seemed the closing was bittersweet. “The last four and a half years at Meiklejohn's have been a great learning experience,” he said.

A new venture?

But while Meiklejohn’s may be departing, Gursky said there is something in the works that Eldersburg should be excited about. “Something big is going to happen in Eldersbug,” he said. “We’re not going away – let’s put it that way.”

Unfortunately, because of legal concerns, he could not say what that something was, but he hinted at a new facility in the town, one that keeps his family heritage.

“I want to tell the world what we have planned,” he teased. “It’s going to be exciting; I can say that much.”

In a Carroll County Times article Gursky hinted that the new establishment would be opening in three or four months. Multiple sources have indicated that the new establishment will be located in the new red brick building outside of the Eldersburg Wal-Mart, built by Ellicott City-based Old Town Construction. This new location would offer a much more visible facility than the previous location in Eldersburg Plaza.

Left in the dark

Even with the prospects of a new facility, Eldersburg residents were still taken back with how the closure was handled. As reported in the Times, some employees of the establishment showed up to work only to be met with a dark interior, unaware of what had happened. Despite an employee meeting that the owners held on May 24, 2009, according to the Times, not all the workers knew of the circumstances. Even bands that were set to perform at the establishment were left in the dark.

Absent this time around was even the slightest inkling of what happened. Previously, as reported by the Eldersburg Eagle, the Gursky brothers had recorded a podcast and posted it on their MySpace page to quell rumors and sate residents’ curiosity. This time their MySpace page remained unchanged – not even their loyal fans offered a comment on the closure. Even the Web site remained unchanged, St. Patrick’s Day countdown timer still ticking and a banner displaying a Mother’s Day brunch still blazoned across the top of the page.

Gursky was reluctant to discuss how the restaurant was shut down. “Meiklejohn’s Restaurant & Pub is closed, period,” he stressed. “I’m not really sure how we closed the pub is relevant to anyone, or of anyone’s concern.”

Links:

Relevant Carroll County Times article:
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2009/06/05/news/local_news/5meikl ejohns_closing.txt

Relevant Eldersburg Eagle Article:
http://www.explorecarroll.com/news/1130/meiklejohns-reopens-after-dark-week/

Meiklejohn’s Web site:
http://www.mjpub.com/index.cfm

Meiklejohn’s MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/meiklejohns

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