The Coffee Incident recently celebrated its fifth anniversary in its current iteration. Holly Smith is amazed and grateful that she has now owned The Coffee Incident for five years. She puts the success of the coffee shop down to a fantastic team (including the maintenance team), and the fantastic support from the Glen Innes community and the coffee shop regulars. From this writer’s perspective, there’s something more in the mix. Holly has an engaging personality and a hospitality flair that draws staff and customers alike to her.
Holly is Glen Innes born and bred. When she returned from Uni, she worked at The Coffee Incident under the previous owners and loved the work and the people. She further honed her hospitality skills in Toowoomba, before returning to Glen Innes in 2019. When she offered to purchase the business, her offer was accepted, and she shifted into a new phase of The Coffee Incident.
The shop moved from the initial site opposite the Great Central, because the business was steadily expanding and couldn’t quite fit in that venue anymore. Her parents decided to buy the current shop, so they’re her landlords (as well as her main cheerleaders!) Because of this, she was able to map out the dream cafe and have it done up how she wanted it.
The Coffee Incident serves good food as well as good coffee. They have continued to supply a dish that became a signature dish for the earlier team – a bacon and curried egg toastie, which they’ve become famous for.
In a comment from their Facebook page celebrating their milestone, they were described as “the happiest, friendliest, most awesome coffee team” which just about sums it up.
