Dennis, after running this popular cafe in Nowra Mall for 25-and-a-half years, is set to retire.

To survive in business for so long, Dennis, with support from his staff, had a winning recipe.

His last day will be on Thursday, January 31.

“I will finish, on the last day, when the customers stop coming in,” he said.

He has been in the current Nowra Mall spot since May 1997 and before that was in a smaller space where the current Reject Shop stands.

“The town is definitely growing and my main market was the 30-year/plus age group and I targeted that and it worked well,” he said.

“However, the time has come and after all these years I feel I can’t go on any longer.”

Three years ago he virtually had the business sold but things didn't work out so he carried on until his lease finished.

The lease actually ended in December last year.

“I decided to trade for another month so I did not spoil Christmas for my staff who have been good long term employees,” he said.

Dennis said over the years said he was blessed to have high performing staff members who were customer service orientated.

“I am going to miss the staff because they are like family,” he said.

“I am going to retire but I will still live here because I love the Shoalhaven.”

The staff knew Dennis was moving towards a stage in his life when he should be taking things easier.

However, Dennis said the staff did not expect the announcement to come so soon.

Dennis always took a hands-on role while at work but did stop cooking in the past few years.

“I much prefer to be out the front - meeting and greeting the customers,” he said.

He will miss interacting with his customers.

“There has been some great people I have had to pleasure meet over the years. Also, there are a lot of characters in this town,” he said.

Dennis expects to see many of his former customers when he comes into Nowra and no doubt they will want to stop and have a chat.

“It will take me all day to do my shopping. People are asking me now ‘where I am going to go for a coffee’?  I say to them ‘when you find somewhere I will come with you’,” he said.

He is looking forward to a fun and busy retirement.

Dennis hopes people have fond memories of his café .

“I would like it to be remembered as a place where people came to meet, socialise and eat,” he said.

Dennis said the Damarrose Café was a good old fashioned place with great service and a good menu.

“That (good old fashion service) is what people wanted and I just kept it basic and never did any fancy dishes,” he said.

Generations of families enjoyed their time at the Damarrose Café.

“People come into the cafe as customers now and I can remember them when they used to come in being pushed in a stroller,” he said.

One family will have a void to fill on a weekend.

“One family meets here every Saturday morning and have done that for the last 25 years,” he said.

“They said they would miss me and they were a very loyal family.”

He does not know if anyone else is going to take over the cafe.

Dennis worked six days a week, started at 7am and would finish around the 6pm mark.

“It has been hard work but I have enjoyed it. It has never been a chore and I think I was lucky to have had the health to be able to do the work,” he said.

If anyone was thinking about opening a business Dennis can offer great advice.

“I always thought it was important to offer highest standard of customer service that you can give. So always give it (high customer service) and always treat people the same as you would like to be treated,” he said.

The cafe was named after his children Damian and Maritarose.