Another eatery falls to slump?

Rotorua's well-known Cobb & Co restaurant in Hinemoa St has closed. The furnishings and signs have been removed and the site, in the Grand Hotel complex, lies empty.


Business owners Terry and Gae Revell, who also run a Cobb & Co restaurant in Whangarei, were not prepared to discuss the reasons for the closure when contacted by The Daily Post.


Mrs Revell confirmed they had closed the Rotorua restaurant but said they did not have any further comment.


Chris Fahy of The Side Pocket Bar is the main leaseholder on the site and said there were no plans for the space at this stage.


He did not want to comment on reasons for the closure, citing legal reasons.


There has been a spate of bar and restaurant closures around the city in the past year. Mango, Sirrocco and NB's remain closed and The Shed and Brass were closed temporarily before being reopened by new owners.


Hospitality Association of New Zealand Bay of Plenty president, Rotorua publican Reg Hennessy, said it was inevitable some of Rotorua's bars and restaurants would close - especially in a time of recession - as there were too many licences for the current demand.


"There will be a culling process. The good ones will come out the other side."


Mr Hennessy said CEA Trading, which owns 20 bars in New Zealand and went into voluntary administration last week, was an example of how tough it currently was in the hospitality industry.


Although transtasman flights would have a positive effect on the city's hospitality sector in future, Mr Hennessy said owners should not have to hang around and wait for that. Cobb & Co in Rotorua was previously owned by Alan and Julie Hulton from about 1998, before they got out of the franchise in 2001 and carried on running their own family restaurant The Grand. The Rotorua couple, who now own a holiday park in Papamoa, bought Cobb & Co after it had gone into liquidation, revitalising it and running the business successfully. They continued to run it as a franchise before deciding to create their own restaurant.


The Rotorua couple then sold the restaurant as The Grand in 2003.


Mr Hulton said he had not heard why Cobb & Co had closed in Rotorua but said he was sad to see it go - again.


"It's pretty sad to see it go or stop again. I guess things have a life and Cobb & Co had a great run for a long time," he said.


When he and his wife owned the business there was a market for family, medium-priced dining but it was sold so they could take on new challenges and Mr Hulton said that market may have diminished as the years went by.


"Over time things change, markets change, people's needs and wants change."


While it was sad to see the iconic Cobb & Co in Rotorua close, it was possible "something bigger and better might take it's place", Mr Hulton said.