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For Gerald Arbuckle, co-founder of Foam., Square is giving him back time to focus on what he loves. Foam. is a café located in the coastal town of Bundoran, Co. Dunegal, established by Gerald Arbuckle, Adam Cross and Noah Lane. The trio are avid surfers and passionate about the local community and landscape, and they established the Foam. venture 2019.

Like many small business owners, they took a leap of faith. With little to no experience in the coffee sector, they started from scratch by learning on the job. Though their focus was initially to serve good quality food and coffee, their goal was to go beyond that as they set out to create a space that would fit in and contribute to the local surf community.

“Nobody really had experience but we just went for it,” Gerald recalls. “We wanted to create a brand and a community, and even set up a space that would allow for concerts and events. Customers buy into the lifestyle and surf vibe more than just the coffee.”

Improving business operations with Square

As the café grew in popularity, so did the owners’ responsibilities, becoming busier with daily admin and operational tasks. When the pandemic forced them to temporarily close up shop in March 2020, this created an opportunity to step back and reflect on how far they’d come, what needed to improve, and what they wanted to do next with Foam.

An immediate area of improvement for Gerald was the till system. “It really needed an upgrade -  it was essentially a giant calculator that made my life hell,” says Gerald. “We did some research and decided to give Square a try”.

In Association with

Since then, Foam. hasn’t looked back. “Square has helped us speed up our ordering process,” Gerald explains. “We’re twice as fast as we used to be, we have good insight into what we are selling, and even refunding is now easy. I was really surprised by all the things we could do with Square. It’s amazing to have everything in one place, and the staff love it.”

Taking time back to focus on what you love

Beyond operations, the team also had new projects and creative ideas they wanted to dedicate more time to during the respite from work at the café. This is when the #WastetoWaves initiative came to life. Gerald explains: “We were always aware of the waste we accumulated, and had so many milk cartons we wanted to use up. We came up with the idea of a hand plane, and worked with our partner, Others, to create them. It was a project that we were really excited about.”

The café re-opened in May 2021 and the team at Foam. are thrilled to be back serving speciality coffee and organic, seasonal food for takeaway. Leveraging off of the momentum they built during their break, and now using Square to streamline operations, the three friends are thinking of ways to continue growing their business. “The time we save using Square helps free us up to do what we are interested in and what we had set out to do in the first place. Our next step is to grow our overall brand,” says Gerald.

Looking forward, Gerald, Adam and Noah are excited to continue expanding their business online and develop their product range further, with surfboard fins coming very soon

Be sure to check out foam. in person at their Bundoran location, online at foambundoran.com, or on Instagram @foam.bundoran

To learn about how square can help your business visit square.com

Pic: Al Higgins