Aline Davies and Christelle Reinbolt sell Petit Velo boutique in Rochester

Aline Davies and Christelle Reinbolt were determined to reopen their Rochester boutique after the floods. Now they are bowing out - find out why here.

The vintage and restored treasure shop Petit Velo has been sold by French sisters Aline Davies and Christelle Reinbolt.

The sweet vintage tricycle above the homewares store next to Iddles Lane, Rochester, has become a familiar sight in the small town over the past two years.

French sisters Aline Davies and Christelle Reinbolt built the business up from humble beginnings as a backyard shed restoration project to a boutique of their own.

The pair’s blend of reconditioned furniture, wall art and fabrics at Petit Velo quickly became a popular mainstay for sourcing gifts for family and friends of residents and tourists alike.

Then the floods came through.

“It was devastating but we were determined to reopen and we really didn’t want to walk away,” Ms Reinbolt said.

“We lost stock but that was nothing compared to people who lost their homes.”

Before the flood, the pair had been planning to sell the boutique.

“We thought afterwards that we would not get any interest (in buying the business),” Ms Davies said.

“But, we wanted to reopen because we thought it was really important to do that for the town, to stand by them.

“It was a lot of work to clean the shop but we were lucky – the floors are concrete and brick.”

Ms Davies lives in Kyabram and Ms Reinbolt in Mooroopna and they were attracted to Rochester for its small town vibe and busy tourist trade.

“A lot of people go through Rochester everyday on their way to Echuca and back to Melbourne so it’s a great spot,” Ms Davies said.

“We thought ‘put it on the market – see what happens’ and we quickly had a few people interested.

“And we found a new owner, Leanne, and she is one of our customers who has been with us since the beginning.”

The sisters, who grew up in Erstein in the north-east of France about five hours drive from Paris, said they were delighted their business could continue with a new owner.

“Leanne is well travelled and her style has a very European influence which we love,” Ms Davies said.

“We got our sense of style from our mother and you can see that in our stock.

“We both have young children and Christelle is expecting a baby in May and our small project had become a very big project.

“We need to focus on other things right now and we are really looking forward to being able to be customers in the shop soon.”

The shop is expected to close for a couple of weeks before being relaunched around February

The sisters posted online they were bowing out with fond memories saying it was “hard not to shed a tear locking Petit Vélo Rochester’s door for the last time”.

“We shared laugh, tears, stories, sweat and of course lots of treasures here over the last two years,” they wrote.

“Thank you Rochester and welcome to Leanne! I’m sure you’ll do an amazing job taking over our little shop and I hope you’ll have as many good times as we had here.”