BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer
EDISON – It’s all about family and community at Maggie Moo’s Ice Cream and Treatery in the Oak Tree Road shopping center.
For store co-owner Scott McLaughlin, the store’s recent grand opening was “like a dream come true.”
McLaughlin and his two brothers-in-law opened their own branch of the national franchise on July 28.
“I work as a loan office in a bank, and I fulfill other people’s dreams,” he said. “I always thought about owning my own business, and I am at that stage of life where it is hard for me to make a change. When we started talking about it and I saw what we could do, I thought this is my shot.”
McLaughlin, 47, who often greets customers personally when he is in the store, opened the store with his brothers-in-law Ivan Aranda and Arthur Garces. They picked Maggie Moo’s for its quality ice cream, which is made fresh every day inside the store.
“It’s the best ice cream, the best atmosphere and a great place for family togetherness,” McLaughlin said.
Aranda first began to consider the idea after he quit his job of eight years as a consulting systems manager for Prudential.
“They were having a lot of consolidations, and our department was being moved to Ireland,” Aranda said.
“They said I could either go there or receive a [compensation] package, and I took the package. I used some of it to open up this business.”
The beginning stages were especially difficult. Construction problems delayed the store’s opening.
“Building a store with plumbing and electrical issues like this on a second tier, there were design issues,” McLaughlin said. “I financed constructions, but I never knew the difficulties you could encounter with a design change. We had one design change that threw us back two months. We were looking to open June 1, and we opened at the end of July. But from what I hear about other horror stories in construction, nothing gets done on time or according to cost.”
Aranda worked until four in the morning during the several weeks before the store’s opening.
“That’s when we were preparing to open up, making sure the cakes were ready, as they are a lot of hard work,” he said
The three men consider the store to be a true family business, with all members of the extended family pitching in.
“What pushed us to go strongly with this is that Arthur’s father passed away last year, and that pretty much tightened the whole family together,” Aranda said. “All the kids flew in from everywhere… and this is what we are, it is family. That is what made us say we would make it work out, no matter what.”
McLaughlin agreed.
“We say it is a partnership of three, but it’s really a partnership of six,” he said. “My wife decorates the cake. Ivan’s wife does the books, and she’s also on the computer doing payroll. Arthur’s wife does cakes and helps out in cleanup, and he and I are involved in marketing. But I’ve learned how to do everything from using the cash register and the mop.”
The store is also planning charitable events to benefit the local community, including a celebrity scoop fundraiser on the evening of Sept. 14 to benefit the Jewish Community Center of Middlesex County on Oak Tree Road.
“In celebrity scoops, we partner up with a nonprofit or one of the school systems, and they pick people, including local celebrities, to scoop ice cream,” McLaughlin said. “During the four hours of the event, starting at 5:30 p.m., 15 percent of the sales will go back to the JCC.”
The family plans to open a second store next year in North Brunswick, and ultimately six in total if plans work out.
“The second store won’t be open until next year which will give us plenty of time to really learn the business and perfect it,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a fun business, but it’s also a lot of work. You really have to want to do it to make it happen. Now I see what people go through to open a business, and I tell customers what I am doing. It’s even made me a better banker because I have gotten to see all you have to do to get to where you are today.”