TERRY Gommers has worked in pubs most of his life, but had never had one of his own until September last year.
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Now he has two.
Mr Gommers moved to Rainbow from Melbourne in mid-2014 after buying the Eureka Hotel.
He has now relocated to Jeparit after taking over the licence of Hopetoun House Hotel.
‘‘I actually moved out here to retire but I got a bit bored,’’ Mr Gommers said.
‘‘There is a lot of paperwork to do, applying for licenses and things like that.
‘‘There is a lot more work in owning a business than I expected, but it has been good.’’
Mr Gommers said he took over the business on February 13.
He has six staff from the Jeparit area working behind the bar and in the kitchen.
Mr Gommers said the hotel had reduced opening hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but would soon be open from 11am every day.
‘‘The meals are picking up every week,’’ he said.
‘‘When we start opening full time we’ll start bringing in specials.
‘‘The meals at Rainbow have been doing really well and we’ll bring those to Jeparit as well.’’
‘‘I actually moved out here to retire but I got a bit bored.’'
- Terry Gommers
Mr Gommers said he planned to refurbish parts of Hopetoun House Hotel.
‘‘The building is not too bad for a country pub. It is one of the more modern ones,’’ he said.
‘‘The bottle shop will be turned into a beer garden, and we’re going to put in a pool table and a jukebox.’’.
Building owner Greg McKay, who lives in Melbourne, said he and Mr Gommers had plans to put a coffee shop in front of the Robert Menzies museum.
The museum, honouring Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, is attached to the hotel.
Mr Gommers said the pair came up with the idea when looking at the building.
‘‘I was originally going to just take over the pub, but changed my mind a bit after looking at the place,’’ he said.
‘‘In the near future we want to put a little coffee and cake shop in the front.’’
Mr Gommers said he planned to stay in the Wimmera long-term and run both hotels.
The Hopetoun House Hotel has had a rough trot in recent years, with the business changing hands a number of times.
The pub was closed in August 2013 and reopened in March last year after it was bought by Mr McKay