The Gilded Bean Coffee Bar in Downtown Burlington will be open longer on Sundays for customers. The shop used to close at 3 p.m. but now it will stay open until 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Owner Chuck Beard said he noticed it was the busiest day and students love using the space to study, so extending business hours was an easy decision.
“It seemed like the thing to do and that we would be losing business if we didn't do because I feel like if they knew they had to be out here by three they would just go somewhere else,” Beard said.
According to Beard, the shop just started being open on Sundays this year and it has already become the busiest day for the business.
“It's been a steep learning curve for me to do this type of business,” Beard said. “But it’s been very gratifying and the results have been fantastic.”
Elon graduate student Carolina Chong Liao regularly goes to The Gilded Bean Coffee Bar on Sundays to study. She said it’s great to have more time in the afternoon to do her work there.
“I would say most students probably get their studying done on Sundays. It's really nice to just have a place where you can just focus because I know a lot of people have a hard time focusing at home,” Chong Liao said.
Madelyn Clements is a manager at The Gilded Bean Coffee Bar. She said Feb. 26 is the first week of the hours extension.
“We have a lot of people that like to stay afterward and they don't really want to leave,” Clements said. “I think it's good that we're expanding our hours because when we added Sunday on, we originally had been closed on Sundays for a good year or so. We just decided to change that and have it open to everybody.”
Beard said he will continue to make business decisions based on input from Elon students. The Gilded Bean wants to know what snacks and drinks it should sell next. Students can leave a comment on The Gilded Bean’s Instagram – @thegildedbeancoffeebar – or talk to staff in person about snack and drink ideas.