It has been almost one month since Knights Meats scaled down its operation into a deli, but owners say too many people think the business has closed entirely.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Knights Meats made the tough decision to close its butchery and grocery sections on August 15 and on the following day, only the deli remained.
Only 16 of the 45 staff have retained employment, with five full-time and 11 casual positions within the business.
Owner Deanna McNaughton said "so many" people think the business has closed down completely.
The marketing manager Cristy Houghton said there have been different messages circulating since Knights' first announcement that the store will close forever after 45 years.
"We've had the potential buyer saving the business, then Deanna's decision to continue Knights in a different format," she said.
"It's important and a challenge for us to get it out as a new entity and new business ... to get it out that they're still open."
Ms Houghton said the transition has been successful in the tough regional climate.
"It's enabled the business to refocus on the core of what they do best and where they have a point-of-difference in this community," Ms Houghton said.
"It's been a great opportunity for the new business to embrace what the community has really loved about Knights.
"I think for any business to succeed these days, they need to be flexible and agile and so this transition has moved Knights into the 21st century and given a refresh on what it stands for and what it can become in the future."
The deli is operating in the space owned by the McNaughton's.
The building's owner Michael Knight said the butcher space is still being used by the current tenants and hopes to put it on the market in the coming months.
"The tenants have been there for 10 years and still have a couple of weeks left of their lease," Mr Knight said.
"Once they have vacated, I'll start tidying the space up and look for a tenant, but I'm also open to selling the premises."
The Golden Fleece Hotel occupied the site in the 1880s and then the building was built in 1949 and has always been used in the meat industry.
Mr Knight said in the building's first eight years, a processed turkey company was in operation, followed by an export company until the late 1960s.
The Knight family purchased the building in 1973 and major work was completed on the building, with additions in the 70s and 80s, and the colonnade and the entrance from Crampton Street occurred in 1994.
"I expect inquiry because of its location; the fact that, relatively speaking, there is parking around the building, various access for trucks and semi trailers behind the lane," Mr Knight said.
"The development of the levee and the Riverside precinct also means that there will be a lot more people going past."
