Uncertainty weighing on business, says Darwin cafe owner Daniel Treacy
UNCERTAINTY is the biggest frustration for cafe owner Daniel Treacy, who is trying to stay open to support his staff amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Northern Territory
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UNCERTAINTY is the biggest frustration for cafe owner Daniel Treacy, who is trying to stay open to support his staff amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Treacy owns Cafe Central in Rapid Creek and the Saltwater Cafe at the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT.
Saltwater Cafe closed several weeks ago but Cafe Central operates in a takeaway capacity.
He employs a lot of staff on visas and was concerned they would struggle without their cafe income.
But he said the $20 million to fill in the gaps of the JobKeeper scheme had helped.
“That was our biggest worry,” he said.
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While revenue was down, he was thankful for the strong support from locals who had made an effort to buy coffee.
“People are being supportive. There’s definitely a drop in revenue and we’ve had an increase in coffee sales and a decrease in other things,” he said.
Mr Treacy said he felt the pressure to adapt to customer demands during this time, and is now offering up grab-and-go takeaway items, made-to-order items and coffee.
He said he was also gauging whether deliveries or catering for businesses or school staff were options.
“The unknown is hard but Cafe Central will keep operating,” he said.
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He said he was willing to wait out the pandemic to ensure the health of staff and patrons.
“We don’t want to have a heap of people in the cafe and there’s an outbreak in the NT or Australia,” he said.
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