QCWA Rooms serves last tea
A TOOWOOMBA icon loved by generations closed yesterday as a result of intense competition from surrounding businesses.
The Queensland Country Women’s Association’s Tea Rooms on Margaret St has been serving food since 1931, but yesterday afternoon the last pot of tea was made for a customer.
“It is sad but it’s a sign of the times,” QCWA Toowoomba division president Phoebe Mitchell said.
The not-for-profit Tea Rooms occupies prime CBD real estate, but a proliferation of eateries that have popped up in Grand
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I’ve had all these people saying, ‘I brought my grandchild here, or my mother was here.’ Everyone has a memory.
— Phoebe Mitchell
Central and the surrounding area in recent years have created an intensely competitive food market.
“Like a lot of retail, we’re actually struggling at the moment to stay viable, especially with all the cafes and food outlets and coffee and tea places,” Ms Mitchell said.
“It’s basically an economic decision. To do the work we do, we must be financially viable.
“We’ve got to look closely at the funds we’ve got to support rural and regional women and their families, and this community.”
The Team Rooms has operated for 86 years,
though it temporarily closed during the 1960s for three years.
“It’s been a part of Toowoomba’s rich tapestry of history,” Ms Mitchell said.
“I’ve had all these people saying, ‘I brought my grandchild here, or my mother was here.’ Everyone has a memory.”
“I think they (the Tea Rooms) are actually part of an institution.”
Members of the QCWA’s Toowoomba division recently made the difficult decision that the tea room and kitchen would stop selling tea and refreshments, though some
are holding out hope that one day, the rooms may again open.
“I’m very much of the opinion that when one door closes, another door opens. So we may not be closing for good. I don’t know what’s around the corner, but that’s up to the members and that’s up to the community,” Ms Mitchell said.
The QCWA will still operate from the Margaret St premises, and the community hall can still be hired.
“Tomorrow is the start of a new day and we’ve already got a function here tomorrow,” Ms Mitchell said.