Off the beaten tracks of touristy Campbell Parade and upmarket Gould Street is the first gift and homewares store by the people behind Have You Met Miss Jones, Lucky Ocean Club, Mr Green Grass and Hello – four brands which operated as wholesale collections for ten years.
Owner Jennifer Jones brought all four of her brands under one roof after ten years as a wholesale business, choosing Bondi because it’s where she calls home. “We looked at other locations but I kept saying to my husband ‘We don’t know the city!’ It’s a Bondi Bubble. A store is such an investment of yourself that I wanted to do that in my community.”
Jones designs 85 per cent of the items in store with business partner Jennifer Sampson, who used to work together at jeans company Diesel before kicking the corporate can and deciding to work for themselves. “It was my goal to have my own business by 30, so I quit at 29,” says Jones. “My parents, who had a homewares company in the Philippines in the ’70s, said why don’t you come back to Manila and see if you can pull a range together. Now I mostly deal with the children of all my dad’s old factory buddies.”
Now 41, Jones is selling cute gifts like geometric necklaces, recycled cards, handwoven baskets and pastel plant pots in her Bondi store that have been handmade in the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. And they’re surprisingly affordable. Necklaces range from $20-$40, macrame wall art from $69, gift cards from $5 and the very popular plant pots and succulents $15-$29.
“It’s like we understand the people here. I met my husband here, I was pregnant here, we had my baby here… That’s what it’s all about, being part of that community.”