Pop-up cafe to cater to Giralang residents still waiting for supermarket

The suburb has been without shops since 2005, and faced another obstacle in April 2020 after a major supermarket pulled out of negotiations.

Developer and Giralang Properties director Dimitri Nikias said a different national chain was looking at the site and doing their own feasibility study, "which looks very promising".

"Hopefully we can have a supermarket there up and running within the short term," he said.

"We are very encouraged by the interest expressed following the ACT government's March 2021 policy change to allow a bigger supermarket on this site," Mr Nikias said in a statement.

The change allows for a supermarket of 1500 square metres, previously restricted to 1000 square metres.

"We were disappointed when our original approved development application was stopped (after we had commenced construction) by litigation from another shopping centre operator."

"And then the government restricted the size of suburban supermarkets to 1000 square metres which wasn't a big enough footprint to keep a long-term anchor tenant," he said.

Mr Nikias said residents had requested a local hub to meet for coffee when he consulted them.

"I wrote to all the residents to ask them: 'What could I do in the meantime, while the site sits idle?'"

"The number one response was a place where they could go and have a coffee."

Shotclock Espresso will open a mobile coffee station at the site, giving away 100 coffees each Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the next three weeks.

It will operate in Atalumba Close, Giralang from Thursday, November 11 until Saturday, December 18.

Depending on demand, those hours could be extended.

Former Canberra Capitals basketballers Jessica Bibby and Natalie Hurst have run Shotclock from their mobile van for the past six years.

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"We love this community and we are committed to this area," Ms Bibby said in a statement.

"Whether it's tradies on their way to work, parents having a catch up after school drop off, people working from home wandering down for a break and a bit of social interaction, or locals simply celebrating their freedom from lockdown, we hope the community enjoys having Shotclock in their backyard."

"They're part of the community," Mr Nikias said of Ms Bibby and Ms Hurst.

"And they were very pleased to come on board there to offer a coffee cart there for the residents, or the people dropping off kids at school."

Mr Nikias appeared before an ACT Legislative Assembly committee into the Giralang shops development in May. The standing committee's inquiry was prompted by a public petition.

He will need to amend his existing development application for the site to move ahead once a new tenant has been confirmed.

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