Gabriella Vukman
Through COVID and flash floods Nancy’s Cafe in Yarra Junction has stood tall.
Named after Emily’s grandmother, the cafe has faced thick and thin and owner Emily divulges how she managed to stay afloat.
“I seriously thought that with all of the closing and opening from COVID and then the flood damages, that I would lose my business,” Emily said.
When it comes to the ordeals faced by the Cafe, Emily said “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
The night of the 2022 Floods that left multiple businesses bereft, Emily divulged that she was still in the building, grappling with water rising to her knees and above in a matter of minutes.
“My brain couldn’t catch up with what my eyes were seeing.that was when my husband turned to me and said, you have to work out what you need to bring, Emily said”
The flooding occurred swiftly and Emily recalls water reaching up to her thighs before the SES came and started pumping it out of the building.
Over the ten months of the Cafe’s closure, Emily said she “had a bit of thinking and soul searching to do.”
“After we had been closed down so many times and reopened and had to retro-fit for COVID
I did consider giving up,” she said.
Along with the support she received from the council and local community, working at a friend’s cafe during Nancy’s months of cessation made Emily truly aware that the hospitality industry was still, indeed for her.
“I had a lot of support from the local and not local community. Customers found me online and emailed me to see if I was okay. I realised that I’m meant to do this and everyone believes in me so I should try and make a comeback.”
Emily also notes a similar coming together of the community that occurred during the pandemic. Getting to know her customers on a deeper level due to social distancing enabled her to really check in on people and have a conversation about whether they were “doing okay” or not.
“We ended up developing a more personal relationship with some of them when previously we never knew them. We were able to go hi, how are you? And because they have no other outlet we got to know a lot of things about them.”
Although the “government did reach out and offer assistance” and a deeper bond with her customers was generated, Emily commented on the hardships of the COVID period.
“It was pretty awful having to close down and having to deny people products and service. It’s not something you ever want to do,” Emily said.
Emily’s advice for small businesses who are going through tough times is to “Stay strong, do some soul searching and know in yourself if it’s right for you.if it’s right, then just keep going.”
Having been successfully reopened for four weeks, Emily noted that without the floods her cafe would never have been renovated and without the pandemic, she wouldn’t have developed such a strong bond with her customers.
‘We would never have been able to afford the time to close for a refit and the reaction we’ve had from both old and new customers has been really positive. They all love the space and think it’s still just as welcoming.”
