For the Love of Coffee
Meet the ladies behind the bustling Woodbury Store Café
Just six kilometres inland from Geraldine is the little village of Woodbury. It was once a bustling saw-milling and farming centre that boasted two butcher shops, a shoemaker, a creamery, blacksmith, hotel and a general store. Today it is only the general store that remains, although the store has recently been reinvented as a café.
THE OPENING OF THE WOODBURY STORE CAFÉ IN December last year (2020) was the culmination of months of hard graft for friends Dianne Hamilton, Sue Hardwick-Smith and Jill Murphy. Each of the three women had long harboured the dream of one day starting a café, and those dreams gradually solidified into a joint venture. Together they have beautifully restored the old building that has been a fixture of Woodbury since 1874 and created a café that is worthy of the building’s history.
They joke that the reason they wanted to open the café was for the great coffee. While there is some truth in that, there are other reasons as well. There was the pragmatic realisation that the store was the only logical place for a café in Woodbury, with plenty of parking and the bonus of extra land for a garden. Also, for Sue and Jill, who grew up in the district, the store was a feature of their childhood. The idea that a new owner could potentially bowl over what had been such a community focal point for more than a century was too much for them. They, like some of their customers, hold warm memories of its place in their community. Even now customers talk of how they used to come in and get their messages from the message board outside or buy ice cream or bread. The sense of nostalgia is strong and a desire for all three women is that the café will once again become that community hub.
Dianne, Jill and Sue are all busy women. Both Jill and Dianne run their own businesses from their homes in the district. Sue is based in Taranaki but travels regularly back to oversee Waihi Station, owned by her family. When she is down, she loves to be hands-on at the café, working in the kitchen or painting. The trio admits to being women with strong views but somehow their ideas have melded into a coherent and tasteful vision. They have one foundational rule that prevents conflict: if two out of three agree on an issue, the third party has to accept the decision.
Quite aside from the curveball that COVID-19 threw into the equation, the journey to opening has been a tough one. They have appreciated the collaborative process; the task would have been more onerous for an individual. They are grateful too for architect Nigel Gilkison’s sensitivity to the heritage building and his ability to cohesively blend their visions. The restoration, of course, threw up the usual issues with piles and rotten timber, but they also had to get their heads around what it meant to run a café. Without any hospitality background, the learning curve has been steep. They hadn’t reckoned on just how many decisions had to be
made, right down to the choosing of crockery and cutlery. The logistics of running the café have been eased by the expertise of their chef, Maggie Blake, acting manager, Sue Walton, and the support of their hardworking café staff. With plans afoot to gain a liquor licence and serve dinner several nights a week, there is much to get their heads around. The women are enthusiastic about supporting local food producers and creating a menu that reflects seasonal availability of produce. Over time they aspire to supplying the café with fresh produce grown in the café’s own garden.
Despite its size, Woodbury is a thriving community with a primary school of over 100 pupils, and committees for the hall, domain and the Eleanor Tripp Library enhance its sense of vitality. With locals never expecting they’d ever have a café on their doorstep, they are keen to support the venture. Already school staff meetings are occasionally being held in the café, local artists are exhibiting their work, a mothers’ group has gathered, locals drop in for coffee while out walking their dogs and it is fast becoming a place to hold
family celebrations in the intimate events space. The women are excited to see this happen and are enjoying making connections with those in the community.
The café is quickly becoming a popular destination. Groups of cyclists clad in Lycra and hi-vis jackets queue for coffee and enjoy sitting outside at the tables in the garden. Sue, Jill and Dianne have all sorts of exciting plans for the café’s future but are wisely pacing the development. In the meantime, they are buoyed by the positive feedback the café is garnering and love ‘giving the soul back to the building’.
The sense of nostalgia is strong and a desire for all three women is that the café will once again become that community hub.