Looking for a sea change and wanting to leave Victoria after the long Covid lockdown, Emily Fortune and Patrick Last decided that Newcastle was the perfect place for a new start and a new business.
“We had started planning this business prior to covid in 2019 and after a long search decided we couldn’t get over the beautiful landscapes Newcastle had to offer,” says Emily.
“We have family in Newcastle plus the added bonuses of the beaches, the people and the lifestyle, it was exactly what we were looking for. We had originally planned to open a year earlier but as Covid continued so did the rental crisis, so it was quite difficult to move to the area we wanted at the time.
“Finally, we were lucky enough to secure a rental in April of this year and wanted to get started on our business soon after.”
Finding the perfect location for their first store was quite the challenge as they had to balance cost, size, location and availability.
“We secured the current shop at 4/152 Hunter Street. We completed the shop fitting by ourselves, we built all the shelving and counter, and sourced all our display pieces second-hand. There were many long days and nights but the satisfaction of completing this immense project was worth it on opening day, Saturday 3 December 2022,” she enthuses.
The focus of the store is on Australian and eco-friendly products including eco-friendly greeting cards, stationery, tea towels and tote bags with Australian artwork; a range of compostable or reusable kitchen supplies; home fragrance and body care products using essential oils, and a diverse range of fun and quirky pots, vases and home decor items.
“We are trying to be as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible with our own packaging both in store and online—we are reusing packaging sent to us from our orders as well as purchasing 100 per cent compostable and eco-friendly packaging. We also use products like brown paper hex wrap as an alternative to bubble wrap,” she adds.
The new store also has a space set aside for about 20 to 30 local creators to showcase their products.
“We are looking forward to getting to know our local creators, having them in our store and sharing this amazing experience with as many people as we can. We are hoping to bring a spark of brightness to the Hunter Street area and to encourage other stores to take the exciting steps and open nearby as well. Customers can expect to see a lot of unique local products and some fantastic gifts, homewares and décor.”
So what inspired the name Bluegum Market? It represents them and their business beautifully, explains Emily.
“As we have come from Victoria and are now living in NSW the word ‘Bluegum’ represents our Australian history like the Eucalyptus tree found natively throughout the south-eastern areas of Australia (NSW, VIC, TAS) and ‘Market’ because we want it to be warm, inviting, collaborative and as exciting as a market.
“Bluegum Market is a combination of about 90 per cent of our aspirations so far. We say this because we have a bigger picture we are striving for. We would love to expand to a larger shop once we have established ourselves in the Newcastle community and amongst the local creators, adding a coffee corner and more space for local creators and us to show off amazing local products.
“We are aiming every day to be more eco-friendly and continue to learn and implement more sustainable practices and really highlight the best Australian products where possible.”
