No petrol for small town amid epic price rise

THE owners of McCoy's Cafe in Cooyar have made the difficult decision to no longer trade as a fuel retailer.

NO FUEL: McCoy's Cafe will no longer trade as a fuel retailer in Cooyar. Picture: Contributed

THE owners of McCoy's Cafe in Cooyar have made the difficult decision to no longer trade as a fuel retailer.

Having taken over the business, previously known as Cooyar Food & Fuel in December 2016, current owners of the McCoy's Cafe Garry McCoy and Julie Shultz have worked on significant renovations and upgrades to the venue to expand their food and cafe offering.

"Unfortunately, in the current fuel environment, it has become increasingly difficult for us to continue operating as a small independent fuel retailer," Mr McCoy said.

Rising fuel prices and increasing operating costs had contributed to the decision to stop selling fuel.

"We have small tanks and buy fuel in very low volumes therefore we pay a higher cost price per litre and higher delivery fees than larger retailers who buy in much larger volumes," he said.

"Unfortunately, this creates a lot of angst for customers at the bowsers who are unhappy with our prices and sadly our staff often wear the brunt of customer complaints about pricing."

Fuel infrastructure issues at the cafe were also a significant investment to fix.

"Combined with increasing operating costs such as electricity and insurance, fuel sales are simply no longer a viable part of our business," Mr McCoy said.

"We've therefore made the difficult decision to stop selling fuel, we will continue to focus on growing and expanding our core cafe business."

McCoy's Cafe is open for breakfast, brunch and lunch from 7am to 4.30pm daily.

For fuel customers travelling the New England Highway, the nearest service stations to Cooyar are at Yarraman, 29km to the north and Crows Nest, 46km south of Cooyar.

Originally published as No petrol for small town amid epic price rise