Five questions with Kristine Maclean, owner of Orange's Green Apple Sandwich Bar

Tell us about The Green Apple, did you establish it and how long have you been doing it?

It was established in the mid-80s, but I took it over in 2010.

I had seen an add in the Central Western Daily, it said busy, central sandwich bar for sale.

My sister had worked there briefly just out of high school and I rang her and said that daggy little sandwich bar is for sale, the one you used to work at.

She said 'Kristine, buy it, it's so you'. So I did.

What was the attraction of running your own business?

The attraction is nobody can tell me what to do. I'm the boss, I set the rules. And I can't get fired!

What are the highlights and lowlights of running your own business?

The highlights are hard to think off, Tom Cruise has never walked through or anything like that but it's nice to see people come here regularly, get to know them, chat to them.

Lowlights, when the odd customer comes in and whinges about the price of a sandwich and thinks they're getting ripped off because they can make it cheaper at home.

It's a bit better now, I think we're considered good value for money.

You have a strong regular clientele, what keeps people coming back?

Affordable, fresh, healthy and delicious food that we provide. Plus a catch-up. I'm on a first-name basis with a lot of my customers and consider them friends.

My customers are very important, they were amazing through COVID.

Because I was takeaway I could stay open and thanks to them I was able to navigate the whole COVID thing and I didn't close one day.

All the banks were still open, people were still working, not everyone worked from home and those people who did still have to venture out, they appreciated being able to grab their lunch and coffee.

What brightens your day?

When a customer ends up being a repeat customer. They're enjoying the food and service. It's nice to see them come back and become part of the Green Apple family.

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