After the Auckland Alert Level changes prevented it from being open at the start of the semester, Shadows Bar is now open to serve students and planning for a big year ahead.
Matt Marquet, Shadows Manager, told Craccum that while the bar lost money daily over lockdown, it was “hit twice over” as campus shut down for students.
“A good chunk of our business comes from university, we’re a campus bar and that’s what we’re here for…we’re purely targeted toward students, so without that it becomes a bit tough,” says Marquet. “We’ve thankfully got a lot of loyal clubs that have come through that have got bookings, up until mid-semester break we’re fully-booked already, which is adding a new problem of trying to schedule other events, but it’s a good headache to have.”
“It makes us as a team here at Shads feel really positive about the fact that people still want to be out there having that social aspect that university brings, which I’m really glad to see.”
“We wanted to create an experience of that fun and excitement of being on campus, so piggybacking on AUSA and being a part of their festival was a way to do that. That’s why I’m really glad they’re rescheduling it.”
According to Marquet, the Shadows team have “salvaged what they can” from their O-Week events and are reworking these ideas into other events. Pre-lockdown, Shadows was planned to be involved in the Auckland University Students’ Association’s O-Week Festival.
“We wanted to create an experience of that fun and excitement of being on campus, so piggybacking on AUSA and being a part of their festival was a way to do that. That’s why I’m really glad they’re rescheduling it.”
AUSA has now rescheduled their O-Week festival to be held on the 22nd-24th of March, which Shadows will be a part of. A hot wings challenge will be held in partnership with Culley’s, along with a range of other events and competitions. Shadows will also host the after party for the AUSA’s Party in the Spark on the 31st of March.
Shadows has a number of daily food and drink deals on offer to students throughout the week. Located on Alfred Street, they will be returning to their normal hours opening at 8am when Auckland returns to Alert Level One.