After four decades, long-running local business Tender Chook has been sold and their last business trading day is today, Friday May 1.
Longtime owners Paul, Effie and Christopher Katis took over the business 26 years ago.
Effie grew up in nearby Kyneton and said her mum and dad ran a very successful small business there for many years.
Effie and Paul met while she was visiting Greece and, after a whirlwind visit to Australia, he later emigrated to start a new life here with Effie.
Going into their own small business was a natural progression.
The business had formerly been operated by Cheryl Maxfield for nine years and prior to that, the McMillan family operated it.
Paul and Effie continued to build on the successful business model over the next two and a half decades.
Their son Christopher has been along for the whole journey.
“We were newly married and I was three months pregnant with Christopher when we took the business on. My parents and our family and friends were incredible helping us along the way,” Effie said.
“We lived in the house out the back for the first 13 years and would put him down for his nap during lunch hour. We had the monitor on as we worked,” Effie said.
Christopher has lots of memories growing up in the store and, in later years, pitched in to help. In fact, he has been working Friday evenings for a number of years, downing tools at his day job and then pulling up his sleeves to assist with the weekend rush.
Paul and Effie say the success of Tender Chook has come down to great customer service, a consistent top quality product, a clean well-presented store, and the relationships they have built and connections they have made with the local community.
They have worked incredibly hard over the last 26 years, initially operating seven days a week, before more recently dropping back to six days.
Paul said for him Christmas has always been the busiest time of the year.
“It was a huge undertaking. Each year we’d roast up to 500 chooks. It takes around 36 hours to prepare and cook them to ensure they are fresh and ready to be collected Christmas morning,” he said.c
Over the years the couple has also thrown their support behind the community that has supported them, sponsoring Castlemaine, Campbells Creek, Harcourt and Newstead FNCs at various times and donating coleslaw and vouchers to assist local schools.
The couple said they have also been very fortunate to have had some great staff over the years. In fact, staff member of 15 years Meghan Pellas will be joining them today for their last shift to help them say farewell and thanks to the community.
A recent Facebook post announcing the sale was met with an outpouring of love, positive feedback and well wishes from the wider community.
“We were really moved by this and it makes all those years of hard work worth it. From the bottom of our hearts, we wish to express our sincere gratitude for the loyalty and support all our customers have given to our business over the last 26 years. We have been truly blessed with the amount of kindness and appreciation that people have shown us for so long,” Effie said.
“This was a tough decision for both Paul and myself, but we knew it was time to move into the next chapter of our lives,” she said.
The couple revealed that the business has been sold to Sideshow Burgers and the store is destined for a refit and new direction. The remodel will begin as early as Saturday and is expected to take around a month.
“We have mixed emotions, whilst we are sad Tender Chook will not be continuing, we are pleased the legacy ends with us and we are looking forward to what’s next,” the couple said.
They are not sure what that looks like at this stage.
“We look forward to taking some time out and thinking about what the future looks like. We are not retiring just yet, but we look forward to being able to spend more time with our extended family and friends and having our weekends back!” they said.