PHOTO: Leon and Jayanne Jackson will be re-opening the doors of a reimagined Gumnut Cafe.
The Gumnut Cafe is on track to reopen this month as tradies work with the new owners to bring it back to life.
The Castlereagh Street cafe closed in 2019 and was bought by Coonamble residents Jayanne and Leon Jackson at the start of February this year.
“We’re born and bred locally so it’ll be nice to just give back to the community,” Jayanne said.
“There’s a lot of young families in town so we’re hoping to fill a bit of a void down the main street during the late afternoon and maybe on weekends a little bit.”
Jayanne has taken time off from full-time employment to kick-start the business with husband Leon an active partner and her eldest daughter Jess Murray as “team leader”.
They plan to put their own stamp on the business, beginning with the interior and running right through to the menu.
“We have lots of ideas.
“When something has been really good and completely iconic I think it’s good to take a different slant,” she said. “We want it to have a different feel and make it our own.”
“We’re open to evolving, and there are things we won’t know until we get in there and get some feedback.”
With 14 grandchildren between them, including Jess’ four aged between four and eleven years, it’s not surprising the new Gumnut Cafe will have a real family focus.
Jayanne’s other daughters will also be giving a hand when they can but she hopes to pick up other staff as they go along.
“It will be something after school for kids, teenagers and young families,” she said.
“There’ll be healthy options, like fruit skewers and coconut milk smoothies, as well as the old classics.”
There’s no set open date, but Jayanne said she was hoping for mid to late April “to be safe.”
Jayanne said so far the space has been freshened up with “a bit of paint” and new seating.
“It’s a small space so we just thought we’d give it a bit of a lift,” she said.
“We’ve got the local tradesmen working there with us.”
“Robbie Andriske has made us a custom bench seat and Chris Murray is there doing new floorcoverings. The Wiatkowskis have checked over the electricals, Dave Carter has looked at the plumbing and Stephen Head did our painting.”
The family are enjoying the learning curve.
“It’s a whole new industry for us, it’s exciting to have a break and put your head somewhere else,” Jayanne said.
“There’s so much to establishing the business, learning about suppliers, and the training you have to do.
“That’s been really interesting and being new to the industry it gives you essential skills and practical insight into what happens behind the scenes that nobody sees.”
The cafe’s reopening will be a welcome boost for the main street, which has been grappling with business closures and declining foot traffic over recent years
“Everyone’s been really great and seem as excited as we are.
“There’s a bit of talk about other businesses opening around it as well, so hopefully there’s a bit more action.”
“Lots of people have stories about their Gumnut days, and hopefully we can make more memories for the younger kids.