Newest stop for coffee lovers
’Godfather’ offers second outlet for aficionados seeking caffeine hit
IT STARTED as a childhood dream almost 40 years ago.
An article in a Reader’s Digest magazine on Cairns captivated a young Gil Risa sitting in his home in Italy.
“I read about it in a magazine and I told myself when I was 12-years-old that one day I would come to Cairns,” Mr Risa said.
Known affectionately by many of his customers as “the Godfather of coffee”, Mr Risa today adds a new chapter to his long affiliation with the city by opening a second Cruze outlet in the Cairns Central shopping centre.
The store is next to Boost Juice and will be managed by longtime employee Rhe Hill.
It comes almost eight years after Mr Risa first opened the doors to Cruze Coffee in Oceana Walk Arcade, between Lake and Grafton streets in the CBD.
The small store was a far cry from the bustling establishment it is today. Initially he sold only coffee beans.
“I used to have people passing by saying ‘are you for real, you’ll go broke in a week selling beans in an arcade’. I nearly cried,” Mr Risa recalled.
“Then I realised that the demand for coffee to drink, especially since I had such a huge display of coffee beans, was growing and growing.
“So I renewed my lease on the basis I could also sell coffees, not just the beans. From then on it just boomed. I had people lining up.”
About four years ago, Cruze relocated to its present location in Grafton St, the extra room allowing for the installation of a coffee roaster.
Now a new chapter is to unfold.
The Cairns Central store will specialise in takeaways. The same variety of fresh beans will be available with two coffee machines operating.
“We’re like the Boost Juice of coffee. You go in, line up, order and grab your coffee. It is going to be quick, fresh and quality. You can’t beat that,” Miss Hill said.
“It is a massive job because it is all new staff and a whole new store and a new dynamic.”
Miss Hill said the cornerstone to Cruze’s success had been customer service, something people could expect to continue at the new location.
“When we ask people how they are, we ask because we care, and that has been how this business has grown,” she said.
“We have something nobody else does.
“We’ve got the variety and it’s fresh and, while we bring beans in from all over the world, it is all roasted locally.”
Mr Risa said he always wanted to grow the Cruze Coffee business and felt he had a team of employees who could help the new venture succeed.
“It (the business) is like a kid, it needs to grow. This is a business that hasn’t reached its full potential,” Mr Risa said.
“The reason I am going to Cairns Central is to give these young people like Rhe, Shannan (French), Sebastiano (Vergara) and our roaster Harry (Rains) an opportunity, a vehicle for them to one day, hopefully, be in business for themselves.
“In the long term, the biggest satisfaction I will get out of it will be to see them, not only achieve professional success, but also a life of success so they can in the future reap rewards not many people will give you the opportunity to do.”
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