06/02/2024
Get that date in your diary! We'll be open again from Monday 25th March!
If that's all you want to know, you can stop here. If you're interested in why we're opening later this year, keep reading.
The longer we run The Good Stuff, and the more open conversations I am lucky enough to have with people running seasonal businesses like ours, the more I realise that seasonality is not a circumstance that I can wish away with positive thinking and good business practice.
As I ready the business for its fourth season, I acknowledge that our placement at the bottom of a beautiful and wild harbour is a huge blessing, and that it also creates some practical challenges around getting customers to choose to visit us when the weather is bad, it's dark outside, and the car park is a walk away.
When we first moved into the wonderful Harbour Light building, I truly thought that if we opened our doors through the winter months, we would make it work. I've learnt through experience that this isn't the case, and while I am hugely grateful to our customers who *do* support us in the winter months (thank you, thank you, thank you!) I have to be honest here and say that it makes no financial sense to do this, and sustaining this business, the staff it employs and its ethics in the long-term means it has to make financial sense.
The cafe feels best when it's buzzing: our staff have a better time, I am a better boss, our cashflow makes sense, we produce better service, better food, better ideas, and a better vibe. I always strive for openness around decisions like this, because I know many other business owners struggle with the same issues, and because I feel indebted to our supportive customers who find us, love us and lift us up when they come in.
I know some will feel disappointed that we aren't opening earlier, but I hope that if you are, you have read through this and can understand why I have chosen to make this change to our business.
As ever, thank you so much for supporting us – and I cannot WAIT to see you all at the end of March!
Love, Alice
