The cafe, which is attached to the longstanding Norwood Newsagency and Post Office, opened in 2019 but began facing trouble at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying economic downturn.

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According to the cafe's chef, Sophie Boxhole, the border opening in December and subsequent mask mandate triggered a further decline in business. As a result the Ms Boxhole and the cafe's owners decided to shut up shop for good.

Amid the struggles of business owners over the last three months, the state government unveiled a renewed business support grant scheme in January and subsequently doubled the available funding last month. That said, the grant scheme has drawn criticism from some Launceston small-business owners for falling short of the needs of many.

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The exact level of impact the border opening had on businesses around the state remains unclear, but with the third financial quarter coming to a close and the mandate finally lifting, the Australian Bureau of Statistics' March quarterly report - expected later this year - should shed more light on the issue.

For Ms Boxhole and her cafe, however, the mandate lifting came perhaps too late, but she was eager to express her gratitude to her patrons over the last three and a half years.

"Everyone's been great," she said.

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