The Coffee Club, which has more than 200 cafes across Australia and New Zealand, is expected to operate from the Myer City Centre precinct in Albury with a Border couple having signed on as franchisees.

The general manager of Franchise Selection, a business which recruits franchisees, said The Coffee Club deal had been brewing for some time and the restaurant which will serve breakfast and lunch should be open soon.

“Even though we’d like to open tomorrow with the building it would most likely be by the end of March,” Tony Maddock said.

The Coffee Club will be the third similar business in that part of Albury with Hudsons Coffee and Gloria Jean’s already trading in Centrepoint and the Myer City Centre respectively.

Gloria Jean’s franchisee Wayne Sharrock said any new rival would make the competition for consumers tougher.

“You can only have so many coffee shops, it will probably make it a little harder for everybody, but it’s the way it is,” Mr Sharrock said.

“We keep battling on.”

Mr Maddock said although The Coffee Club would be selling takeaway coffee, 50 to 55 per cent of sales would be food related and the cafe was likely to have a limited liquor licence.

The arrival of the cafe business, which began with an outlet in Brisbane in 1989, should be the start of a number of new franchises opening in Albury-Wodonga this year.

Mr Maddock said AllSafe Energy Efficient Products, homeware and kitchenware retailer Matchbox and an Exclusive Collectables model car store would all open stores in Albury-Wodonga this year.

“The franchise All Safe environmental products will also be opening in Albury-Wodonga in 2010, it began in Townsville expanded to Mackay and is now looking at Albury- Wodonga,” Mr Maddock said.

“And Matchbox homewares and kitchen accessories which has 19 stores in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia is also gearing up for Albury-Wodonga.

“All of these companies are currently looking for the right properties and the right franchisees.”