Robert Harris gets a facelift
A 13-year-old Palmerston North cafe is catching up with modern interior designing trends with ‘‘a bit of a facelift’’.
Robert Harris on The Square is closed for two days of remodelling work from yesterday.
Owners Barney and Rose Hyde were looking forward to the cafe’s new look. The decor’s been virtually the same since it opened in 2006.
‘‘Everybody who walked in was wowed by it when we first opened. But 13 years later it was getting a bit tired looking and stale... [so] basically, it’s a bit of a facelift for our cafe,’’ Barney Hyde said.
Robert Harris cafes across New Zealand were undergoing remodelling to get in line with the look the franchise’s newer locations have had for the past three years.
The couple have been working on parts of the update for a few weeks.
Barney Hyde said this week’s work would refresh the cafe’s doors, street front and the food cabinets.
Hyde said most of the work would be done by tomorrow.
The cafe will look different, with wood-grain surfaces, more modern-style light fittings and the walls repainted in black and white.
One of the first things customers will see as they come in the door will be a portrait of the franchise founder, Robert Harris.
Harris was the first in the country to import, blend and roast fresh European coffee beans for retail when he started his business in Hamilton in 1952, Barney Hyde said.
The wall to the left looking into the cafe will all be glass, although that won’t go in for a while.
Barney Hyde said the couple hoped to have it done within the next two months.