Toowoomba Emerge cafe reopens in old Burger Chef location in Margaret Street

After Covid saw them face closing permanently, a popular Toowoomba social enterprise cafe has not only found its forever home but has also opened a second location.

Staring down the barrel of their second major move in as many years, Emerge CEO Jen Shaw could be forgiven for fearing the worst for the future of the social enterprise.

After taking up residence in Railway Street halfway through 2021, the business began to feel the impacts of Covid, and increased pressure on the hospitality industry, as the year went on.

By January 2022 Emerge was on the move again, and while the future did look uncertain they’ve found a new forever home at St Stephen’s Church.

Now, for the first time in Emerge’s history, the social enterprise has a second location after they took up in the old Burger Chef store in Margaret Street.

Hospitality trainee Tyrone Bland in the new venue of Emerge Cafe at the old Burger Chef in Margaret St, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“We didn’t plan to move (from Railway Street), that was never our intention but a few things forced our hand, and Covid was a big culprit over the past few years,” Ms Shaw said.

“For us, being used to having a big cafe, we’ve had to scale things down at the new store but since we opened there (in late March) the community has been really supportive.

“It’s a high traffic area which is awesome, and with The Lighthouse next door I think it’s a great space to collaborate and help get our young people exposed to a different type of education.

“What I love most though is we are the contrast to the court and police up the road, and I think we’re the much better option of the three.”

Jen Shaw, CEO of Emerge Cafe. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Ms Shaw said while the goal was to develop their St Stephen’s location into a fully-fledged cafe, that vision will take time, and that’s where the burger shop comes into play.

“The Youth Memorial Hall needs to be renovated and we will grow into there, but in the mean time the burger shop is a really good middle ground to allow us to do what we do, which is give kids who are having a hard time a job,” she said.

“We’ve had to move a couple of times, and we almost had to stop what we were doing because of that, but we’ve got an amazing community that gets behind us.

“The St Stephen’s location is really about being our forever home, but Emerge is more than just a cafe. We’re looking to use that location to run training programs and things like that, so the goal is to create a youth hub as well as a cafe space that we know and love.

“The burger store allows us to keep the wheels running and have money flowing in to support the work we do, and hopefully with some fundraising over the next 18 months we will have our beautiful cafe space once again.”