Magda Pizza shop relocates and reopens after fire

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A local pizza shop has relocated and is back in business after a fire destroyed it months ago.

Magda’s Pizza in Luzerne County opened its doors at its new location in Wilkes-Barre this week and so far business has been booming.

Magda’s Pizza sold out for the second night in a row this week. Friday marks 14 months exactly since the shop was destroyed by flames at its previous location.

Lines, non-stop calls, and order after order were exactly what Dave Magda had waited a long time for.

“I’ll tell you what I’m happy to put down the jack and hammer and the sledgehammer in this concrete building and pick up my spatula and pizza peel again instead of doing construction,” said Dave.

For the last 14 months, Dave, family, and friends have worked tirelessly to get the pizza shop back open in its new location in the Parsons section of Wilkes-Barre.

On April, 28th 2023, Magda’s, which was located less than a mile away at Gardner Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, was destroyed by a fire.

“It was a difficult time for sure but we picked up the pieces and now we are here in this really nice new location,” says Katie Magda the owner’s daughter.

“To drive by every night and every morning to see the progress it was really awesome. They started it and it really didn’t take that long to transform it all,” stated Danielle Adames from Wilkes-Barre.

Magda’s new location used to be a garage.

Dave says there was a ton of work to be done including the installation of water lines. The fire hydrants didn’t work and weren’t connected the day of the fire at the last location.

“That was pretty costly. It’s all computerized. We get notifications on our phones. It’s high-tech,” added Dave.

It’s taken friends, family, and the support of fellow business owners to get Magda’s Pizza back in business and Dave back in his element.

“It’s so heartwarming just because this really is his livelihood. To see him back in his element doing his thing and the return of customers again he loves it,” continued Katie.

“We do feel bad that we sold out twice but we’ll work on that,” says Dave.

“It’s great to be back in business. I’m glad that we have a home. This is going to be in the family for years and years and years and years and years,” explained Dave.

Dave says well over $100,000 has gone into the remodeling of the pizza shop.

Magda’s is open Monday through Friday 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Fridays.

They cater on the weekends.

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