Decade-old eatery returns after Village of Damned lessor retreats

A trendy Village which has become a graveyard for restaurants and cafes has had some good news with the return of a decade-old eatery and the opening of a vapour store.

A ’VILLAGE of the Damned’ landlord has done an about face and eased its lease terms to allow a decade-old business to reopen while also welcoming a vaping store.

The Village at Nundah has been leaking restaurants and cafes for the past two years with more than a dozen vacancies scattered throughout the precinct.

The most recent casualty appeared to be Broz Kebabs, which had been operating for 13 years within Nundah Village Shopping Centre, after it closed a couple of weeks ago.

Broz Kebabs co-owner Sam Shinwari was all smiles outside his store which reopened on Tuesday. Picture: Darren Cartwright

The shopping centre forms part of the ‘Village’, a retail strip that stretches almost 300m along Sandgate Rd, from Wood St to Buckland Rd.

The owners of the fast food outlet posted a sign on the door that explained to their loyal customers that they were forced to close because of ‘high rent’.

“We are sad to announce that were unable to negotiate a better deal on our new lease and the high rent makes it very hard to survive in the market,” the sign in the window read.

However, they were back in business on Tuesday after the landlord backed down from their hard-line stance and agreed to terms with Broz Kebabs owners.

Co-owner Sam Shinwari was all smiles when The Courier-Mail visited the store although he was relatively tight-lipped about the reasons he reopened.

“We are very happy to be back, but I don’t want to say much more,” Mr Shinwari said.

A sign on the door of Broz Kebabs that explained why the initially had to close. Picture: Darren Cartwright

A loyal customer posted an email from Broz Kebabs on social media that announced their return was because “centre management got in touch with us and agreed to our conditions.”

Just last month, Mr Shinwari told The Courier-Mail that exorbitant rents were killing small businesses.

He said the premises of a former fish and chip shop have been vacant for some three years and that the landlords of Broz Kebabs wanted to increase their rent by $500 a month next year.

“Rent is very high and no one can afford it … we are hard working here. They asked us for $500 a month increase for next year, but we asked for it to be reviewed,” he said.

Vapour Club co-owner Temaru Teamoke said they moved in because they believed their product suits the 'hipster' Village. Picture: Darren Cartwright

The return of Broz Kebabs came a day after Vapour Club opened its doors at Nundah Village Shopping Centre.

The vaping store has filled a premises that had been vacant for more than two years while a licensed cafe is tipped to take over the site of a former Coffee Club which closed in May.

Co-owner Temaru Teamoke said they chose the Village because it was a ‘hipster’ precinct that suited their product.

“We liked the demographic and there’s lots of development in the area and also the south side was saturated with vape stores,” Mr Teamoke said.

“It’s seen as a real hipster new age vibe and we think our product fits in well with the area.”