Does Mount Gambier have too many cafes? Here’s what the shop owners have to say
Can you have too many cafes nearby? You’d think not - but this Aussie city has so many people are complaining.
Lifestyle
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They’re the comments guaranteed to materialise in minutes under any new social media announcement of a new cafe in Mount Gambier:
“Great, another coffee shop.”
“Just what we need, another coffee shop.”
“We have too many coffee shops already.”
“How many more coffee shops do we need, we have coffee at home?”
“There are too many coffee shops.”
“OMG do we really need another,”
“Seriously? How many cafes does G Town need?”
Bonus points if they’re accompanied with the eyeroll emoji – but do the commenters have a point?
As of 2024, the Blue Lake city has over 20 cafes and coffee bars – if you include restaurants, bakeries, fast food stores, gyms and servos and even the Coles – it’s easily more than 30 spots for your coffee fix.
At the end of April 2024, one of the city’s many coffee shops, The Tuck Shop, ceased regular trading at its small but popular cafe up by the Blue Lake.
While still intending to host occasional pop-up events at the cafe site, Tuck Shop owners Kirby and Biddie Shearing said they decided to close the cafe hoping that it would help the Mount Gambier “saturated” coffee and cafe market.
With a population of nearly 30,000, Mount Gambier is SA’s second largest city and the Limestone Coast’s economic hub.
A popular destination for tourists, hundreds of thousands of people visit the Mount each year. So how many coffee shops and cafes does the city actually need – and how many can it sustain?
Owner of Mount Gambier coffee shop mainstay Cafe Melzar, Joe Case said he “certainly” agrees with the idea the Mount is overrun with cafes.
“As owner of Cafe Melzar, I’ve run a successful business pre-Covid, pre cafe and coffee shop explosion, and pre cost-of-living pressures,” said Mr Case who took over the reins at the Englebrecht Lane cafe in 2018.
“The landscape (now) is drastically different. Over saturation is a term regularly used in any conversation I have with the general public and fellow business owners in the industry.
“With the cost-of-living expenses blowing out, each business is scraping to get their share of what little spare money some people have and with the flood of new businesses in the last few years it is being spread even thinner.
“Four to five years ago it was less competitive, there was enough business to go around, (now) with so many businesses currently up sale, it's clear (that’s no longer the case).”
According to Commercial Real Estate, there are five coffee shop/cafe businesses for sale in Mount Gambier.
“It’s not an industry for the faint-hearted right now,” Mr Case said.
“The best thing for me to see as a cafe owner is everyone (in the coffee/cafe trade) being busy, it’s what’s best for the industry in Mount Gambier.”
Heading down towards the courthouse and Blue and Valley Lakes, Erin Latchford from Blue Bay Espresso on Bay Road says competition between businesses was healthy as long as people have the right attitude.
“I know it feels (like Mount Gambier has too many coffee shops) but honestly with the amount of tourists that pass through year round now there is plenty of love to go around,” Ms Latchford said.
“If someone opens up next door and copies exactly what you do, you just have to make sure you do it better. Competition makes you strive for better and not become complacent.”
Ms Latchford said during Blue Bay Espresso’s six years in business, they’ve learnt Mount Gambier locals are “fiercely loyal”.
“We love our regulars … but we also understand that we don’t offer everything to everyone so of course we understand if you feel like a specific, bagel scroll or a doughnut you’re going to go somewhere else,” Ms Latchford said.
“That’s what it means to support small businesses, you can’t just enjoy it when people support your own business – it has to be universal.”
Ms Latchford said discourse around Mount Gambier’s coffee scene should be seen as a good thing.
“The more people that know you can get a good coffee on any corner in Mount Gambier means that more people will come looking for those coffees.”
As expectations around the standard of coffee had risen, most cafes in the Mount had stepped up, she said.
“People expect more from a coffee shop these days and Mount Gambier can certainly deliver those high expectations much more than they could when we opened six years ago. It’s wonderful to watch the coffee scene grow. We need passionate people to make that happen.”
Around the corner from Cafe Melzar, Scott Ruwoldt, who fulfilled his dream of running a coffee shop back in 2022 when he first opened SOMA Espresso Bar on James Street, says aspiring cafe owners shouldn’t let talk of too many coffee shops stop them.
“I don’t agree that we have too many coffee shops, ultimately people open a business because that’s their passion,” Mr Ruwoldt said.
“Capitalism is a beautiful thing, you can open whatever you want and the market will decide whether you can sustain it or go bust.
“We have lots of coffee shops as it’s quite a low cost of entry to open one, it’ll cost a lot week to week but you can hire almost all your equipment for free upfront, which I don’t agree with but that’s how it is.
“I’m happy for customers to go wherever they want, I love all our regulars and only want them to come to Soma because they want to.”
Mr Ruwoldt said he preferred to ask “how many great coffee shops there are instead”.
Peter Loring from Bricks and Mortar Coffee Co, who provided advice to Mr Ruwoldt when he opened, said Mount Gambier undoubtedly had “a lot” of cafes but as long as each provided a unique experience, it didn’t matter.
“The consumer is definitely spoiled for choice but if you’re doing the important things right then people will always come back,” Mr Loring said.
“We have a very strong loyal group of customers, we know their names and orders by heart and we can tell that their visit to us each day is a special part of their day and routine.
“As far as cafe owners, (the industry is) absolutely not (competitive), I’m personal friends with a lot of the other owners, we drink each other’s coffee, eat each other’s food and always say hi.
“Being different or your reputation is what brings people in, being consistent with your service and product and always being friendly is what keeps them coming back.”
Alysha Herrmann, a writer and creative producer from the South-East, said after moving to the Mount from a smaller community, she loved the range of cafes.
“They each have their own vibe and I visit different ones for different purposes with different people,” Ms Hermann said.
Peri WinkleWood, a Mount Gambier nurse, said she liked the variety
“Everyone has something a little bit different,” she said. “If there were too many coffee shops in Mount Gambier we would see more of them closing or failing to thrive.”
Local councillor Jason Virgo said he thought Mount Gambier’s thriving coffee culture even has room for growth.
“I see an expectation from tourists visiting the local community to have boutique coffee shops open their doors earlier, on weekends and public holidays,” he said.
“It is an economic question for each business, but I expect the demand would be there.”
Ms Latchford said at the end of the day it was all about the quality of the coffee – regardless of where it came from.
“Every coffee matters,” she said. “Everyone deserves a smile and everyone deserves to feel appreciated when they spend money. Especially in this climate with the current cost-of-living crisis.”
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