Rotorua Breakers outlet to close

Breakers Cafe and Bar in Rotorua is set to close - but a new bar and restaurant will replace it, creating about 25 jobs.

Breakers Rotorua owner Adam Boast said the lease on the Fenton St building was up for renewal and a decision had been made to not renew it. The family restaurant will close at the end of business on Sunday, May 27.

Mr Boast plans to open a new restaurant/bar, unconnected to Breakers, on the same site about mid-September. In the interim the landlord is to carry out maintenance including re-cladding and re-roofing.

Mr Boast confirmed all 12 Breakers staff would lose their jobs but said his new establishment would create about 25 positions.

With about four months between the closure and the new restaurant opening, it wasn't possible keep current staff on but they would be encouraged to apply if they wished during recruitment for the new premises.

Mr Boast didn't want to give away too much about his new venture but said it would be a large space with a separate bar and restaurant and would be open longer hours than Breakers.

He operated the Breakers Rotorua franchise for four years and it was open for three years before that.

A Breakers head office spokesman said a new outlet was planned for Rotorua but no date or details were known at this stage. In the meantime, Breakers club members can redeem their loyalty card discounts at any other Breakers franchise in the North Island.

Meanwhile, the owners of popular long time late night Rotorua establishment Joe's Diner say there are no plans to close, despite speculation to the contrary.

Owner Jenny MacPherson told The Daily Post she had heard that people were speculating the diner was closing.

"There might be rumours but as far as I am aware, Joe's Diner is not closing," she said.

"We've been in business 47 years this year and that's not changing in the near future."

Mrs MacPherson and her then husband, Joe Horvath, started out with a pie cart in Amohau St in 1966. Ten years later they were offered a space across the street where the business remains.

In the 1980s, the couple separated and Ms MacPherson has owned Joe's Diner since then.