Elewijt (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Snax snack bar in Elewijt (Zemst), run by Kenny Mareels, lost many customers for nearly a year due to a Google error wrongly marking it “permanently closed.”
As VRT News reported, the owners of The Snax, a snack bar in Elewijt, a village in the municipality of Zemst, in the province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium, had a hard time in recent months. For 18 years, their hamburger place was always busy. However, lately, it has become very quiet. Kenny Mareels and his team did not know why. They thought the hot weather might keep people away. Or maybe students were busy with exams.
They even asked if people were tired of the American theme inside the snack bar. They had no clear answer. Then, some customers said they saw on Google that the snack bar was marked as “permanently closed.” This was not true, but people may have believed it and stayed away. Now the owners know what caused the problem. They are trying to fix it and tell everyone they are still open.
What made the Snax in Elewijt so quiet for months?
According to Kenny Mareels, today, many people check online before going out. If they see a place is closed, they often do not go there. This could be why fewer people came to The Snax. He mentioned that for him, this news was both good and bad. He was glad the problem was not with the food or theme.
“We’ve been living on just our Facebook and Instagram followers for at least half a year.”
Kenny Mareels of ‘The Snax’
Kenny Mareels found out why fewer people had been coming for months. Some regular customers told him they only came back after seeing a Facebook post from someone nearby who had eaten there. These people had thought the snack bar was closed.
They believed this because Google showed that The Snax was “permanently closed.” After seeing the post, they were happy to know the snack bar was still open and told Kenny they were glad. He then found out that Google had listed the snack bar as closed for almost a year.
Kenny Mareels says,
“I called people from Google last weekend. If Google regularly receives reports from users indicating that a case is closed, then the algorithm can decide to set the case permanently closed. That is an explanation like any other, but it does concern your case and your income “
According to Kenny, for more than 6 months, the Snax stayed open thanks to people who followed them on Facebook and Instagram. These followers still saw posts about opening hours, photos, and menus. Kenny Mareels and his team have now fixed the problem. The Google page now shows the right opening times and says the place is open.
He mentioned that, but the damage has already been done. Many people still think The Snax has closed forever. To help fix this, their Facebook followers are now sharing posts with others to let everyone know the snack bar is still open.
Kenny says he feels better now that he knows why it was so quiet. But he also says it is a strange and upsetting story. He is now hopeful that more people will return, especially during the big reopening event next weekend.
“It’s a relief that we now know why it was so quiet, but it remains a strange story.”
Kenny Mareels of ‘The Snax’
