A REOPENING of cafes for a maximum of 10 patrons at a time would have been cost prohibitive say Ballarat cafe owners.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
When the state government opted on Monday to keep restaurants and cafes shut to all but takeaway diners in the short term, it was met with strong acceptance across Ballarat, despite the inevitable economic delay which may now follow.
Owners of cafes, big and small, The Courier spoke to on Monday afternoon agreed that for many a 10-person limit would not be sustainable when you factor in wages, bills and compliance changes.
Margie Quinlan, co-owner of Bodega in Howitt Street - which will reopen its doors for the first time in seven weeks on Wednesday morning - said she agreed that a such a minimal opening would not work.
"I've given some thought to the idea of having 10 people seated in the cafe, but really, you are running your whole cafe when you factor in your space and everything else, full menus, full staff, so no it would not be sustainable for us to do that," Ms Quinlan said.
"We're opening Wednesday for the first time, so right now, we don't know how that will even go.
"It's all an unknown for everyone and I think until everything is back to some sort of normality, whatever they may be, I don't think (10 people) will work. I firmly believe cafes need to reopen fully for them to be sustainable long term."
Ms Quinlan said in the seven weeks the cafe has been shut, emotions ranged from whether staff could be paid until JobKeeper became available to how best to sustainably run the business going forward.
Bodega can hold up to 100 people at a time and relies on not just passing foot traffic and morning traffic, but also functions.
It employs up to 18 staff, both full time and casual and will reopen on Wednesday morning at 6am with five staff.
At the weekend, Provincial Hotel co-owner Simon Coghlan said a 10 person limit on restaurants would not make sense.
"You can't have a restaurant that's one-quarter open for the service required," Mr Coghlan said.
"The hospitality industry requires the hotels and restaurants to be full on a Friday and Saturday to offset the quiet night earlier in the week.
"You're simply not going to get the volume in order to pay the bills."
At the other end of the spectrum, Tic Tok Cafe in Lake Wendouree has faced different issues.
While her cafe cannot seat more than 10 people at a time, owner Jasmine said she has had to adapt her business model just days after taking over the cafe eight weeks ago.
"We've noticed that people are very wary when they come in," she said. "I think this will hang around with us for quite some time yet.
"For us, when the restrictions are lifted, hopefully it will allow more people to come out. We've had some pretty good support locally, which has allowed us to stay open.
"The concern is going forward, will people have the money to be able to come into businesses like this? At this stage we just don't know."
She said she agreed, a 10-person limit, would not make financial sense to many larger cafes when you factor in bills and wages.
Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
