“You just don't know, and now that we’re closer to opening, it’s scary to know if people are going to come back because we’ve been gone for three months.”
Having dealt with the floods of last October and the drawn-out aftermath of repairing her family’s Macisaac Road Takeaway business in Mooroopna, Penny Jong is now wondering if the customers will come back.
For some around the Goulburn Valley, October’s floods just keep on challenging them — and Ms Jong and her family are among them.
As is Zaffer Coskun, who owns Che Che’s Pizza, a neighbour of Ms Jong’s in the same Mooroopna Park Shopping Centre complex.
Mr Coskun has had to endure floods, a break-in on the night the floodwaters swamped his business and the realisation he wasn’t insured for flooding. It has all left him on the brink of not being able to reopen.
“Not having the insurance cover made me wonder if I was going to be able to get through it,” he said.
“It’s just pure luck and good fortune that we’re just scraping through. If it was to drag out a couple of more weeks, then I probably wouldn't be able to.”
Macisaac Road Takeaway was recognised for ‘The best fish and chips in the GV’ in a 2018 News competition and in a Triple M competition the same year, while Mr Coskun has faced a huge trial as his introduction to the pizza business.
Both have supported each other through the flooding ordeal and had good support from their landlord, and both businesses are planning to reopen in early February, if not before.
For the people behind the counter, though, it has been a challenging time getting to that point.
“Coming back after we evacuated, I thought I was all tough and whatnot, but then seeing it all — it was heartbreaking,” Ms Jong said.
“Then seeing so many people and families around us go through exactly the same thing. It's hard. It's not as simple as everyone thinks it is just to open the doors and do it.”
Like many takeaway stores, Che Che’s Pizza is a family business and the forced closure has impacted more than just Mr Coskun.
“We’re all pretty down about it,” he said.
“My kids used to come and work here as well and they’re missing it. We’re all missing it. So it’s not very nice.”
Both families are hoping, however, with some community support, the businesses can bounce back after reopening.
“Well, the phone keeps ringing,” Mr Coskun said.
“So I’m hoping to get a good response from the community. I get a lot of people asking me when we’re reopening, so I’m expecting everyone to come back.”
Ms Jong said she hoped the customers had missed her as much as she had missed them.
“I really enjoy doing this,” she said.
“I love engaging with the customer. Just talking to people. People come in just to simply have someone. I love that. I do.”