New cafe for Waiouru 'cats'

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 466, 15 December 1992, Page 7

New cafe for Waiouru 'cats'

By

Jan

Savell

When Waiouru's Children's Library was amalgamated with the main Camp library Denise Forrester saw a golden opportunity. Ten months later she has opened the Greedy Cat Cafe at the Waiouru Community Centre. The cafe aims to provide quality food and good service while keeping prices as low as possible. Its situation away from State Highway One, in the heart of Waiouru's shopping centre, makes it a facility for the locals. "The comment I've heard from the women customers is: 'This is just what we need'," said Denise after her first two days of business. Mrs Forrester has been involved with cooking and catering for the last 12

years, including managing over 20 staff for the Army Garrison Institute (AGI) during her last posting to Waiouru. She saw the Community Centre as an ideal place for her own cafe. "There's heaps of mums out there pushing babies around. The women need somewhere they can go. I've got a child of my own so I know what it's like. Now they can sit down for a coffee and chat or pop in and get something for

their husband coming home to lunch. "We are open from 9am to 4.30 to match the hours of the other shops here. Right now we're feeling our way but we hope to extend our menu to include soup, lasagne, salad and those sort of light lunches. Opening during the weekend is something else we'd like to do if the cafe is successful. Two days into the operation the feedback is all positive. Cakes and slices

have been sold out by 4pm, with one soldier complaining to his wife that he couldn't get in the door at lunchtime! All the baking is done on the premises with extra bread, pies, and donuts being delivered each day. Denise has found the distance from suppliers and other facilities to be one of the biggest hurdles of the operation. "When we were setting up we travelled to Auckland and Hamilton to go to auctions. The hard-

est part was getting everything together at the right time. We've had to do structural alterations to the building including installing the plumbing and re-wiring. Tony Greeve and Mark Anderson from the Army's Property Office have been fabulous." "When we applied for the shop the Army asked us: 'Do you think there's a need?' and 'Will the public support it?' Now we've got our chance to find out."