MeMa's restaurant owners, supporters continue vision of Burgaw shopping center

James and Myra McDuffie's restaurant is a major success in Burgaw with customers coming in throughout the Wilmington area to order Southern style meals.

After five years of running of MeMa's Chick'n' & Ribs, however, the entrepreneurs want to extend that success throughout Pender County.

They are keeping their sights on opening more doors for business owners with a massive undertaking — a shopping center. A campaign is underway to find investors for The Creek at Burgaw project, which has a funding goal of $5 million.

Folla Capital, LLC is working with the husband and wife duo to find investors, while raising money through crowd funding. The Wilmington-based group helps small businesses collect money under programs authorized under the JOBS Act of 2012.

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Clem Seifert, Folla Capital partner, is looking forward to seeing the project with a couple of two story buildings come to fruition.

"There's a need in Burgaw for that," Seifert said. "Pender County is growing. Myra and James have been community supporters for a long time. They've taken this leap of faith to build something great for this community. They're asking the community to invest along side them."

They kicked things off a couple of months ago and are still working on building the campaign and marketing with goals to get interest from local and nationwide communities looking to support a vision by the Black-owned business owners.

"Women, minority, and veterans are typically underrepresented when it comes to receiving funding from traditional sources for projects like this," Seifert said while also referring to James being a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

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The minimum investment is about $25,000, through Folla Capital's initiative called SLICE2 (Secured Loan Investment in my Community's Entrepreneurs and Endeavors). It allows participants to own commercial property, at a fraction of the typical cost.

"Our target investor is an investor that realizes and understands the potential in commercial real estate and who wants to get involved, but can't get involved at the investment levels that it takes to typically invest in commercial real estate," he explained.

Campaign officials said the mission of the project is to provide quality and unique services to Burgaw, Pender and surrounding communities and people visiting the area through dining and shopping businesses. The shopping center, just off of Interstate 40 at Exit 398, near N.C. 53, across from Walmart is expected to create about 30 jobs.

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According to a website for The Creek, tourists make up about 35% of revenue for MeMa's. The McDuffies also said high visibility is important to capture a segment of a market travelling on Interstate 40. An example of MeMa's eastbound and westbound billboards were mentioned as another asset for increased business.

MeMa's will take up the entire 12,000 square feet of the first building. Some of usage will include a retail shop, barbecue sauce production facility, rental venues and a food truck commissary kitchen that can accommodate about four food trucks.

A second 7,000 square-foot building is expected to have five units for lease, but there is a possibility that one tenant may take all the space.

Along with receiving assistance from Folla Capital, Genesis Block, a Wilmington-based nonprofit that supports minority and women-owned start-ups and small businesses is also providing assistance.

The Creek is expected to be finished and ready by 2023, according to posted plans. But Seifert stressed that everything depends on getting the money first.

"The idea is to raise the capital quickly as possible and to move forward as quickly as possible," he said. "If someone wrote us a check for $5 million today, then the project would start tomorrow. They got their general plans done with the architect and there's work to be done, but they're ready to go."

Reporter Chase Jordan can be reached at cjjordan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: MeMa's restaurant owners continue vision on Burgaw shopping center