Sunshine Coast Harvest Breads and Cafe opening second venue in new Maroochydore CBD

After people kept asking him to open another store, the owner of a popular Maroochydore cafe is now investing tens of thousands of dollars to create an “up-market” venue.

Harvest Breads and Cafe owners Mike Somerville, left, and Sharon Cook, right. Photo: Asa Andersen.

A Sunshine Coast crowd favourite cafe is pouring $150,000 into creating a second venue with an “up-market” flair in the new Maroochydore CBD.

Harvest Breads and Cafe is opening a 117 sqm cafe at a five-storey, complex worth $18.8m, A1, along First Ave, Maroochydore after signing a seven-year lease with the building‘s developer, Evans Long.

The cafe is part of many new hospitality venues flocking to the area, such as a superstar cafe, and a $500,000 Italian restaurant.

Harvest Breads and Cafe owner Mike Somerville said the new eight-staff and 80-seat venue will be an “up-market” boutique version of its first store in Maroochydore, with the menu being “slightly fancier”.

“It’s sort of like pimping out what we’ve got now,” he said.

The Maroochydore resident said he would invest $150,000 into its fit out.

An artist's impression shows the design for the new A1 office building that developer Evans Long is building on First Ave in the Maroochydore city centre.

Mr Somerville, who runs the business with his partner Sharon Cook, said he will continue to offer Harvest’s hallmark breakfast, lunch and homemade baked goods when opening in, potentially, March next year.

He said the second store followed being bombarded with questions from customers to developers, who had floated potential sites from Coolum to Caloundra and were keen to see him ink a deal.

“It was quite amazing how many phone calls we got,” he said.

He went ahead with the current location because it was a good fit, would cater to a rise in workers and residents in the area, and was close to customers who enjoyed his coffee when the brand first opened in Cotton Tree in 2010.

The cafe would be joined by other tenants including international architecture firm MODE Design, and KIBOU Japanese Bar and Kitchen - also the owners of Hikaru sushi.

KIBOU Japanese Bar and Kitchen owner Rakhui Jung said he would be opening a 163 sq m Hikaru store, adding to his six sushi venues in the region.

Evans Long head of development Sujay Singh said his team was thrilled to have landed three high-quality tenants at the complex where they are completing the finishing touches.