Theresa Zhang, owner of Laguna Serviced Apartments
Theresa, born in a small country town in a farming area of China, where as a child, life was very hard for her. As soon as she finished high school she left home and travelled to a big city to look for job.
No one would give her a job, so penniless, with no food and out of desperation Theresa decided she would have to work for herself. She started by selling boiled eggs at railway station where she made 5 cents Chinese money per egg and from there, she began her business life.
Today, after 30 years in business which ranged from lunch boxes to noodle bar; restaurants to cotton farming; night club and pub; property development and hotel development and ownership and much more in between! Retirement – no way! People often tell Theresa that she is so lucky because of the lifestyle she has and her answer is: “it’s funny, the harder I work, the luckier I seem to get.”
In 2003, Theresa was walking home after she had taken her car for service when a property on the Toowoomba CBD fringe caught her eye. She couldn’t believe that such a property was available for sale. On the spur of the moment she decide to purchase it, the property was called “Laguna “. Originally this was the old Weis homestead and later on became “Laguna” and was owned by the Philharmonic Society.
Theresa changed its name to the Coffee House without realising that it was a well know place for wedding receptions from the old days. After a major refurbishment and the establishment of an award winning garden the Coffee House very quickly became once again THE wedding venue for Toowoomba people.
Unfortunately the building was very old and became increasingly expensive to maintain so after 8 years running the Coffee House, Theresa decided to rebuild it into apartments, and rename it with its original name: “Laguna”
Laguna serviced apartments was finished in July and welcomed the 1st guests on the 28th July 2014, The onsite café/coffee shop retained the name “Coffee House” and welcomes old customers as well as new but in a completely different setting.
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