Ask Juanita Garden what she misses about her old life in Auckland and she quips that she can’t say "good coffee".
After a whirlwind few months, Mrs Garden, a school teacher, and her musician husband Mike Tan have opened the doors to Faigan’s Cafe and Store in Millers Flat.
It has been a "huge adventure" for the former city-dwellers, who have no retail or hospitality experience.
"I love the life here and I’m not missing the traffic. I used to travel two hours a day to get to and from work.
"I really miss teaching [but] this is another adventure and it’s still people-based. We serve coffee and we serve food; that’s not what it’s really about. It’s about serving people," she said.
Growing up at Avenel Station, Mrs Garden’s own childhood memories of Faigan’s was of a general store that "had everything you could imagine" — from tools to toys.
"It was like a really old-fashioned general store and I remember that. It was very cool," she said.
She left for boarding school when she was 12 and has spent the past 20 years in Auckland, most recently as deputy principal of a large primary school. Mr Tan, a musician, was warrant officer in the Royal New Zealand Navy band.
The couple always thought they would one day return to the area, where Mrs Garden still has family, to live.
Faigan’s Store closed in May last year after Foodstuffs withdrew its Four Square franchise. It had been run by a community trust which was chaired by Mrs Garden’s father Eoin.
Hearing of the closure, Mrs Garden (45) thought it was a shame.
"Millers Flat is not really quite the same without that little hub," she said.
Her father "jokingly" sent the couple the information about it, saying "why don’t you buy it?".
"It was a bit of a family joke. Then we thought, if someone doesn’t do something cool with it, Millers Flat will lose that hub," she said.
While happy in their own respective careers, the couple started contemplating what they could do with the store. Stocking groceries was no longer sustainable on its own and that was not their dream.
But it was important to have a grocery supply for the community so they started thinking about the possibility of having a cafe alongside that.
When they sent in their proposal to the community trust, a big part of it was honouring the history of Faigan’s, keeping the name and also access to some of the store’s memorabilia.
It was 1882 when the business was first established and the building was rebuilt after a fire in the 1930s.
"It’s a really important part of Millers Flat. I think that was part of why our proposal was accepted," Mrs Garden said.
There were some nice historic touches in the cafe, including the tables made by Mr Tan from salvageable rimu floorboards from the store.
In August, the trust decided to sell it to the couple and then the hard work began, as they embarked on the challenge of giving it a new lease of life.
Work began in October and it took longer than anticipated, mainly due to the engineering work required to bring the building up to compliance.
There had been a huge amount of support, not just from family but also from the community, and they had also been "investing in advice".
"We’re very much of the mindset [that] if you invest in advice, then you should jolly well listen to it," she said.
Asked her role in the business, Mrs Garden described herself as "dogsbody" at the moment.
"It’s everything. I clean toilets, I do the dishes, I make coffees, I serve people ... that’s just the way it is."
The focus initially was on the cafe, with the restaurant opening on Friday and Saturday nights.
Prominent Otago chef Michael Coughlin was advising and mentoring which had been "awesome".
In the future, the couple hoped to be able to provide work experience and training for local people.
Rather than a grocery store, it would change to being more of a convenience store. The future might be more in niche products, although they were not sure of how that might develop.
The building included a functions room and it was hoped to host musical and other events.
In time, there was space at the rear of the building for some kind of retail operation. Mr Tan was very keen on antiques and collectables, although they were not sure whether it would be down that track.
"There’s lots of potential and lots of possibilities," Mrs Garden said.
In the meantime, they needed to ensure they got the cafe right first, while Mrs Garden’s father also kept reminding them that they needed to "keep an eye on the bigger picture".
Mrs Garden was both excited about the venture and also a little apprehensive. Not only was their own personal investment in the business, but also the commitment they felt to the community which was "huge".
"Even though it’s privately owned, I think Millers Flat still sees this as their community store. There’s quite a bit of weight about that. We feel a real responsibility to the community to keep this going, and obviously for staff as well," she said.
Eventually, they saw it as a destination cafe and restaurant, although Mrs Garden acknowledged that would take time.
"It’s a really nice community. Our hope is that Faigan’s becomes one of the Millers Flat hubs again."
She was excited about the potential of the Clutha Gold Trail, not just for Faigan’s but also for others in the area, including accommodation providers.
The better the infrastructure was in the area, then the better the cycle trail would be, she said.
Just like Auckland, there was somewhat of a housing shortage in Millers Flat, and they were struggling to find accommodation for staff.
