Infuriating reason why this iconic family-run bakery is being forced to close after 40 years in business: ‘We are destroyed and heartbroken’
- The Bakers Oven forced out by NSW Government bureaucrats
- Owner was the poster boy for post-covid Dine and Discover scheme
He was the poster boy for the New South Wales‘ Government’s Dine and Discover pandemic voucher scheme encouraging people to return to cafes and restaurants.
But The Bakers Oven owner Chris Kreketos is now being evicted from the business in Sydney‘s The Rocks tourist precinct which has been in his family for 41 years.
‘I’m destroyed. I’m heartbroken. Gutted – all at the same time,’ he told A Current Affair.
‘It’s a very hard pill to swallow.’
Mr Kreketos helped launch the voucher scheme in 2021 but two years on NSW bureaucrats have decided not to renew his lease, ending the family’s operation on George Street.
The Bakers Oven owner Chris Kreketos (pictured) says he feels ‘used’ by the NSW Government after being told he is being booted out of his family-run bakery
His sister Val (pictured) said their father who founded the business is ‘heartbroken’
He and his sister Val battled to keep the lights on through the Covid crisis and even hosted politicians and journalists for the Dine and Discover voucher launch.
NSW Deputy Secretary for Cities and Active Transport Kiersten Fishburn told A Current Affair The Bakers Oven heritage building needs urgent capital works.
‘It’s not a matter of taking money from someone, we need to go out into the marketplace, renew and refresh licences and make sure we’re getting the best value for the people of NSW,’ she said.
But asked if he felt like he had been used, Mr Kreketos replied: ‘You could say that’.
He and his sister Val offered to renovate the bakery but to no avail.
‘We pledged about $800,000 to restore and do a fit-out on the site and it was knocked back, wasn’t accepted,’ Mr Kreketos said.
“‘Undercooked” is what they said.’
The Bakers Oven owner Chris Kreketos (pictured) was the poster boy for NSW Government’s Dine and Discover pandemic voucher scheme
The Bakers Oven has been in the family for over 40 years. it will c lose its doors for the final time next Wednesday
The much-loved café was established by their father Bill Kreketos in the early 1980s.
‘He’s battling health issues at the moment so he’s very, very heartbroken as well,’ Val said through tears.
‘He just says keep fighting.’
She added: We put our blood, sweat and tears into the business. Every day for seven days a week.
The Kriketos family’s lease expires on April 26, while several other longtime businesses at The Rocks are also in limbo after being placed on month-to-month leases.
Anoush, who has run a souvenir shop for 30 years, said: ‘We suffered two-and-a-half years with no business. Now that the business is back we they want us to go.’
Most of the property in The Rocks is leasehold and owned by the NSW state Government.
Placemaking NSW is a state government advisory committee formed in 2020 to provide ‘strategic advice’ on the management of precincts like The Rocks and Darling Harbour.
