Family swaps commute for cafe

A Wairarapa family has given up city life to take over one of Greytown's most iconic cafes.

Phil and Miriam Gates, along with their children Emilene, 19, and Shelby, 16, were given the keys to The Corner Cafe on Monday.

While Mr Gates will keep his IT job in Wellington, Mrs Gates has given up the daily commute to her job in printing to commit full time to the cafe.

The first-time business owners have always floated between Wairarapa and Wellington, but have decided Greytown is where they want to stay.

"It came up for sale and then all the dreams started to appear," said Mrs Gates. "Going over the hill every day was a bit of a stress thing."

While the couple opted to move to Wellington two years ago, their children decided to stay in the region to finish school.

"Because we come from the Wairarapa it always pulls us back," said Mrs Gates. "The business was a pull and the kids were the pull ... it was a bit of everything."

Mr Gates said the cafe is an opportunity for a different lifestyle.

"This is more us personality wise, than the boutique places."

Miss Gates, who has been working at the cafe for nearly two years, said she's excited to take on more responsibility.

"It's the same, but something different. I'm going to be learning everything," she said.

Mrs Gates said the menu and atmosphere of the cafe made it so appealing, and any changes which could be made will only be added extras.

"We just need to make it a bit brighter so everybody can see it's open," she said.

Although long hospitality hours may have put some people off, early starts and late nights have done nothing to deter the family.

"I'm used to getting up at that sort of time. It's down the road - you can't get much better than that," Mrs Gates said.

"We know how busy those places are and how much work there is."

But among all the excitement the hard work is still to come."I'm bloody nervous," she said.