Cafe owners Stacey Ewin and Darren Tracey expect to move into the centre in May and are yet to decide on a name.

Ms Ewin said food at the new outlet would be similar to what was offered at the couple’s Millthorpe cafe.

“We’ll have pies, quiches and gourmet sandwiches with a lot of takeaway options and limited seated,” she said.

“We’ll also have a range of desserts, jams and curds.”

Ms Ewin said the couple had been looking to expand.

“We thought ‘why not give it a shot’ and the terms were really good,” she said.

Retail Shopping Centre Services’ Bill Kanellopoulos, who is helping to fill tenancies in the shopping centre, said securing the Old Mill Cafe was welcome news.

“We’re really happy, and I think it will be good for the centre and good for all of Orange as well,” he said.

“We knew they’d been looking for somewhere to open for quite some time, but just couldn’t find the right location.”

Mr Kanellopoulos said discount store Super Dollar would open in the centre within the week and a hairdressing salon and beauticians would open in the next fortnight.

Chinese and Sushi outlets will also open soon, along with a gift store.

“We have to get the mix right, we don’t want too much fast food, we want to make sure we’ve got a lot of variety in the centre,” Mr Kanellopoulos said.

“The strategy is to get the shops open and going, and then gauge the response from consumers.

“I think we’ll find there is more confidence from retailers who are holding back.”

tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au