HAVE a homewares emergency?
Just dial Three-0-Two and you’ll be immediately connected with the A-Team – Anita Parsons or Amy Hardham.
And we mean it – literally dial the first five numbers synonymous with the Narembeen area and add ‘302’ on the end, and you will be straight on the phone with the wonder women behind one of Narembeen’s latest thriving businesses.
Three-0-Two is a surprising haven of gorgeous homewares, hidden behind the inconspicuous doors of the local hardware store owned by Amy and her husband Andy.
Amy always had plans to give the women of Narembeen a reason to visit the hardware spot as it seemed to be a hub for men only, but she was unsure of how to go about it.
Over a few years she had tried to introduce homeware items for women so they had a reason to shop there, but she would try and fit it into an unappealing corner and in her words, was an epic fail.
After attempting this for the last time, Anita approached Amy after netball training just over two years ago with an idea of starting a home and giftware business within the hardware shop.
“At first I couldn’t picture where we would fit it, but that’s the beauty of having fresh ideas, she could picture exactly where it would go,” Amy said.
“Both Andy and I became excited with the idea, not only to expand the shop but, as with most things we do, we wanted to provide Narembeen with something special.
“Anita and I have the same ideals when it comes to this way of thinking, many things we do with Three-0-Two are not always for the benefit of our shop, but we more look at how it will benefit our town.
“I knew Anita had great taste and is up with all the trends, but I didn’t realise how truly lovely the space could look every time we get new stock in and have a rearrange.”
Anita said she had been stewing on the idea for a while, particularly after her mother Kerry was involved in a similar establishment in Kulin, and knew it had the potential to be very successful.
The A-team decided they wanted to stock a range of different brands and products, on-trend gifts and homewares of high quality that were sure to entice many savvy buyers locally and from surrounding towns.
While Anita takes care of the more creative aspects of the business, such as product selection, styling and social media, Amy has a very knowledgeable financial and business brain, and both ladies are united in creating something special for their local community.
They stock a range of manchester such as towels, sheets and cushions, kitchenware, homewares, jewellery, watches, stationary, candles and fragrances, baby and children’s ranges, artwork, clocks, lights, small furniture, cards and seasonal/holiday decorations – just to name a few.
In the two years they have been operating, they have also branched out into holding events of interest to local women, such as wreath making courses, macramé workshops, makeup tutorials and even fashion parades.
Three-0-Two has become more of a platform to bring women together from Narembeen and surrounding areas to spoil themselves and take part in unique opportunities not readily available in the Wheatbelt.
“I think we’ve just jumped straight in and tried to do something a little different from the start,” Anita said.
“I knew it would be good and the response we’ve had has been really positive, it has been really well received.
“We are all about supporting shopping local and supporting each other as a community.
“We’ve been able to use our shop as a platform to host events and functions of interest to our customers, and there’s so much scope and opportunity for more.
“These events are more about women getting together and spoiling themselves for once, because we’re always going to farm meetings or Agrimaster courses, but rarely get to do something we’re interested in or enjoy.”
READ MORE:
In the new year, Anita said they were looking at running an interior design course or colour workshop and she was constantly trying to think of other exciting new opportunities.
Both ladies say e-commerce through their website was something they would consider expanding, as Amy said sometimes their location was one of their biggest challenges, but also their biggest asset as visitors from other towns travelled specifically to shop at Three-0-Two.
“One of the best surprises has been how most people have supported us and the large following of women from other districts,” Amy said.
“And now it’s not just the hardware side of things that the men come in the shop for, they actually enjoy shopping in the homewares section too.”
