Con Damouras, owner of Bar Italia in Sydney’s Leichhardt, is committed to preserving his restaurant’s “old school” roots by refusing card payments and milk alternatives, insisting on cash transactions only since its opening in 1952.
“There is people who get disappointed, we have a few that call us different names,” Damouras told 2GB Sydney. “We just say, ‘Look, this is part of the institution and we’re keeping it that way. Cash only.’”
Motivated by a desire to keep cash in circulation and teach his children about money handling, Damouras even installed an ATM near the café to help customers adjust to the no-card policy.
“We contacted our bank, we said we’re losing customers because most people are using credit cards,” he said.
Despite modern preferences, Bar Italia remains popular, with lines of patrons waiting for a seat. “It works for us, we don’t lose many people,” Damouras said. “We just want to keep it old school, the way it was, the way it is.”
Damouras is among millions of Australians supporting today’s national “cash-out” protest, organised by advocacy group Cash Welcome, to resist the shift toward a cashless society.
Source: 9News.
