Final stir at Richmond’s The Wooden Spoon Cafe
Craig and Nicky Woodbury, with their children Claudia and Mike, closed the family business after 11 years on 25 August. Photo: Gordon Preece.
The Wooden Spoon Cafe in Richmond reluctantly served its last coffee on Friday after more than 11 years of business.
Co-owner Nicky Woodbury, who established the business in 2012 with her husband Craig, says the decision to close was “heartbreaking” since it was for reasons outside her control, with lease terms “not economically viable in this current climate”.
While Nicky reluctantly closed the doors of the cafe, she says the staff and customers were the one ingredient that kept it stirring.
“You don’t truly realise the impact you have on the lives of your customers sometimes; you’re their favourite spot, their best banter for the week, a welcoming smile and an ear for a yarn,” she says.
“We are beyond privileged to have customers who were here the first day we opened and who were here for the last.
“We’ve shared it all, great times and bad times, births, deaths, marriages and splits, promotions and vacations, new houses, pictures of grand babies and everything in between.”
It hasn’t always been easy for the hospitality venue.
“We’ve been through it all - roadworks and Covid - and I would like to thank the various members of the Spoon crew over all that time too, that helped build this place to what it is,” she says.
“From the bottom of our hearts thank you to all our customers for your support over the years, we will be forever grateful for sharing our time with you all.
“I will also say a thank you to [Mishael Sowman] at Ambrosia, she’s always been on hand to offer an ear even though we’re competition, which is how I operate in business, we’re all in it together.”
Nicky says her husband’s hospitality passion led them to establish the cafe, which during its time won Cafe of the Year at the 2014 Nelson Hospitality Awards.
“Very early on we saw that Richmond had potential for huge growth which we’ve obviously seen happen over our time with the likes of Lower Queen St developments,” she says.
“So we felt that we were future proofing our retirement by setting up a business out here.”
Nicky says her cafe also held a closing down sale to raise funds for her final staff payments, taxes and for her family.
“Most people were very respectful that these items were now all we had left after 11 years in business,” she says.
“Anything and everything we could sell was sold - tables, chairs, plants, pots, and cutlery.”
Nicky says she’ll now “take a break” from the hospitality scene before starting fresh.
“While this last six weeks has been extremely distressing, my family is tougher than this situation. A wise woman once told me, it’s only money and they’re still making it.”