Seasoned hospitality owners, Justin and Liz Allie have proudly opened their latest venue, The Fish Shak and Shak Espresso on the spectacular Southport Broadwater on the Gold Coast. They also own Longboards Laidback Eatery & Bar on Ground level at Q1 at Surfers Paradise and were familiar with Cafeideas from its fitout. When the time came to order for the new venture, they didn’t hesitate to jump online and start shopping.

Knowing The Fish Shak would be a high traffic venue in a busy location that is part of a costly Council redevelopment on the Southport Broadwater, Justin knew he’d need durable, attractive, quality furnishings. “It’s important that we respect the ambience of the area and create a quality atmosphere for customers to enjoy. Plus, we take great pride in serving top quality seafood so we wanted to make sure this benchmark was evident throughout the business.”

Justin was dreading having to travel all over the Gold Coast and even Brisbane to source appropriate furnishings and kitchen equipment, knowing it would involve transactions with several different companies. While searching online for hospitality suppliers, he came across the Cafeideas website and was pleased to learn that shipping was available Australia-wide.

Justin was keen to streamline the purchasing process as much as possible and had hoped to select a supplier who could offer a wide range of products. “Cafeideas has such a huge range that I was able to sit and choose everything I needed, all online, without having to drive around multiple suppliers here on the coast.” He says he had dropped by a few but found them difficult to deal with. “They said to bring in my best quote and they’d match it which I found frustrating because they basically wanted me to do their work for them. Cafeideas offered me better pricing from the start meaning there was no need to shop around.”

Not needing to purchase from multiple suppliers meant a straightforward transaction. “I don’t want to have to find three chairs here, ten chairs there,” Justin explains. “Cafeideas have great stock availability. I could order what I needed, they’d get it in for us then deliver it. If I had to wait for orders to come from different suppliers, I’d be forever chasing up deliveries. I don’t have the time nor the inclination to do that when Cafeideas makes it so simple.”

From the beginning (at Longboards), Justin was sold on the ease of doing business with Cafeideas. “Their website is so easy to navigate and I can sit in my office, add things to the cart and know they’ll be ready to go because their availability is visible on the site as you shop. If something didn’t seem to be available, I could call to ask.”

Another benefit of purchasing from Cafeideas was transparency. “Knowing that their prices were already better than other suppliers I’d contacted, I knew they weren’t inflating prices just to make it seem like they were giving me a good deal. I’d already done my homework and knew what I expected to pay and they were spot on. They’re determined to get your business from the start instead of giving you the run-around. Plus, they had a good variety of tabletops, not run of the mill but with a nice grain through them and not at the ridiculous price of having something custom made.”

After processing his initial order, Justin received a call from Cafeideas to discuss delivery and finalise payment. “One item I’d ordered was on request so they got back to us about when it’d be available and when it came in, they rang to organise payment over the phone. Simple.”

Justin says he was initially concerned that not being able to see and touch the products might be a detractor however when the goods arrived, they exceeded expectation in terms of quality and durability. “Ideally, I’d love a Cafeideas showroom in Brisbane or on the coast but the whole process was so easy and there were no negative surprises at any stage. I actually wondered what else I could get from them because the transaction was so straightforward. We saved money because we had only one freight charge per purchase and saved time by not having to leave the site to go shopping.”

Cafeideas staff called once the orders had been delivered to check that everything was as it should be. Justin was pleased with the company’s communication and follow-up from beginning to end.

“I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to purchase café furnishings and equipment,” Justin says. “I just wish they had a store somewhere in Queensland but that said, there were absolutely no problems dealing with them online.”

Cafeideas