The beloved Niagara Cafe says the holiday period is always one of the busiest times for the business, with January 4th being their busiest day.
Gundagai’s beloved Niagara Cafe experienced a significant increase in business during the holiday period, with their busiest day being January 4th.
Luke Walton, Owner, said the busyness comes in waves during December, but by the end of the month and January it’s all evened out.
“The period between Christmas and New Years is always solid, but January 4th was our busiest day this year with our sales up about 70% that day on top of what they usually are, which shows the impact on the team and the effort required,” Luke said.
“Early to mid-December gets really dead, which is difficult to manage because you’re also trying to get everyone up to speed to prepare for what is typically the busiest time of the year. But the end of December just goes bananas, so it evens out by the end of the month,” Luke said.
“The number of people driving has increased because of the cost of air fares, so we are lucky the Hume gives us access to that.”
“Kym and I are really impressed with how the team went. Year on year, it is just getting better,” Luke said.
“The model we want to achieve is a special kind of service level to suit the age and style of the place. I think our efforts with building the right team is really starting to come to fruition.”
“We have been really fortunate to have a lot of high school aged kids join our team, and we’ve gotten some really great 16, 17, 18-year-olds to join our team who are very mature. I think it is the consistency that we’ve got now, that everyone is pulling their weight. The team seems to work really well together,” Luke said.
“We are incredibly proud of the team and our reviews on Google speak for themselves,” Luke said.
Luke said they are always on the hunt for the right people to boost the service.
“We are still keen to push in to nights, as we really think there is a need for it in the community, so we are always on the lookout for strong team members with hospitality experience to help us expand in to this,” Luke said.
“We will be looking for new opportunities to bring to town in 2025, but for now we are just settling in to the new year,” Luke said.
-Emily Flint
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