Lydiard General, Orchards Cafe and The Gatehouse have a strong community behind them

The store owner Rachel Sheehan is looking to move the kitchen out of the cafe to another building on the property to give her more space on the cafe floor.

"The square-footage of the cafe itself is tiny," she said.

"So to be able to remove the kitchen from that front area and relocate it into the house is going to open up so much more opportunity for us to expand."

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The store is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the CBD foot traffic, but Ms Sheehan said she saw this as an advantage when she opened the business.

"To have a destination store and to draw people to your destination is far easier than to be right in town on top of it, trying to vie for one customer's attention," she said.

Other things like having access to free parking also makes it easy for customers to make a point of coming to visit.

Ms Sheehan has plans for the other building on the property, hoping one day to turn it into a guest house and also have room for a community garden.

The number of people who support the store has been a big part of Ms Sheehan's business.

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"It is beautiful to know people's names and to use their names when they come in," she said.

"Even people who do not know us start to come in and those regulars will start to chat with them."

Ms Sheehan said it then "snowballs from there" and then new customers became regulars who brought their friends in.

She said she was hoping they would be able to create this community feel when they opened but were surprised it happened so quickly.

"It is a feeling of belonging and being a part of something," Ms Sheehan said.

"It is more than a business, it is more personal for me."

Over in the developing suburb of Lucas, Orchard Cafe owner LeRoy Hand has also been surprised how quickly himself and partner Belinda Pilcher have been able to develop a strong connection with their customer base.

"The community support is the most incredible part of our business - we are genuinely in love with our community," Mr Hand said.

"One of our regulars passed away last week and his family actually came in and told us about it because they know how important we were to his life."

Those close connections was something that Mr Hand was not expecting.

"Maybe I had not given it much thought, but we could not believe how many people were coming into the cafe just to talk to us - coffee was almost a secondary thing they were coming in for," Mr Hand said.

COVID-19 lockdowns also played a part in creating strong communities around cafes.

Annmarie Sloane, owner of The Gatehouse, said her business faced some challenges during lockdowns but was still running because of community support.

Ms Sloane said many people came to purchase gift vouchers or take away coffees after putting the call-out on social media which helped keep the business running.

"It is a sanctuary for so many people from so many different walks of life," she said.

While the cafe is based in the cemetery, Ms Sloane also has a number of regulars and a strong community around her.

"We get a lot of pensioners that come in, that have been embraced when they come here ... and they have become friends and acquaintances," Ms Sloane said.

"It is actually an honor and a privilege to be able to serve our community."

Ms Sloane said people who had entered her cafe while they were grieving the loss of a loved one had since returned.

"They come back on a regular basis ... the community-minded nature of this business is integral."

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