Minister for Employment, Small Business and Training, Di Farmer has announced the opening of a Buy from the Bush Queensland pop-up shop in New Farm – and she’s wants us all to support it.
Ms Farmer said it had been a tough year for small businesses – and even tougher for those in rural and remote areas, as she urged Queenslanders to support those bush businesses without leaving Brisbane.
“This is a remarkable story of resilience and perseverance – a group of country women banding together to defy the odds,” Ms Farmer said.
“Buy from the Bush Queensland started two-and-a-half years ago when small rural businesses across the state got together to create an online country market.
“This Christmas they’ve gone one better and brought the bush to Brisbane – and I’d encourage everyone to get behind this great Queensland small business success story.
“Our economic recovery is well underway after a year of many challenges and one of the best ways to keep it going is to get behind Queensland businesses.
“Let every dollar make a difference this Christmas – buying local supports your fellow Queenslanders.
Founder of Buy from the Bush Queensland, Kerri Brennan said the response to the shop had been overwhelming.
“We’ve had customers travel from as far as the Gold Coast and Moreton Bay to buy some of our products – everything from pickles, chutneys, soaps and bath salts to jewellery, scarfs, lamp shades and duffel bags,” Ms Brennan said.
“We source our products form businesses right across the state – from Goondiwindi in the south, to Mission Beach in the north, and Longreach in the west.
“This all began because many women on the land had started microbusinesses to supplement the family income during a devastating drought.
“Individually we had very small networks but when we banded together, we quickly grew to have much greater reach through social media.
“Last year we had 5000 Facebook followers and now we have more than 22,000 – but opening our own shop has taken it to a whole new level.
“New Farm locals Lawrie and Tony Ward offered us the space for free and I said yes before I thought about how we could make it work.
“It’s a low budget affair, we sleep on swags between the pelts and macadamia nuts at night before opening the shop in the morning.”
The store will be open until December 23, “Which should give us just enough time to get home for Christmas”, said Ms Brennan.
The Buy from the Bush pop-up shop is located at 866 Brunswick Street, New Farm.
