Yeppoon business: Shantina Boutique and Isabella’s Jungle stores ready for customers

From plants and homewares to clothing and accessories: Two new stores have opened in Yeppoon, find out the full details.

Shannon and Deborah McNeill, Shantina Boutique and Sue and Claudia Heath, Isabella's Jungle. Both businesses have opened in Yeppoon in the last couple of weeks.

Two new businesses have opened in Yeppoon in the past few weeks – a clothing store, Shantina Boutique, and plant and homewares shop, Isabella’s Jungle.

The Morning Bulletin paid a visit to the stores on Thursday and was pleasantly surprised to discover both businesses were run by mother and daughter teams.

Located in the Echelon Building, Shantina Boutique is owned by mum Deborah McNeill while daughter Shannon, 18, helps pick the clothing and they share running the shop.

“I would like Shannon to take it over a bit, learn a bit more about the office side of it as well later on,” Deborah said.

The name Shantina was Deborah’s husband’s idea, and is the combination of their two daughters’ names, Shannon and Christina.

Deborah saw a need for a new clothing boutique in the coastal town as a lot of young people travel to Rockhampton for shopping or shop online.

“A lot of the girls buy stuff online and it arrives and they are all excited then it’s not the right size and they have to send it back,” she said.

“We just wanted to make it fun and a bit more affordable for the younger girls as well.

“We have tried to do all sizes as well, have ordered size 16 to 24 and one size fits most.”

Shannon and Deborah McNeill at Shantina Boutique.

With a background in make-up and her own home hairdressing business, this is Deborah’s first time in retail.

Now in their second week of opening, things seem to be going well as word of mouth spreads and foot traffic passes through the door.

“We have had a really good response, a lot of people have gone ‘thank god we have somewhere to shop’,” she said.

“People park at the back, they are constantly going through, you’ve got the two new restaurants at the front (The Bungalow and Waterfront Seafood Bar and Grill) and that brings a lot of business this way.

“Some people say we are tucked away but if you have a good product people are going to come.”

Clothing range at Shantina Boutique.

The clothing range is mainly focused on “party” dresses, outfits and other casual wear, with some slip dresses.

They also stock a Gold Coast brand, Palm Collective.

“It’s a bit pricier but it’s nice to have something unique and the different colours,” Deborah said.

Heading into the warmer months, Deborah is researching to start stocking swimmers.

“Just simple bikinis, we are by the beach,” she said.

“We don’t want to add too much, I don’t want to go into a shop where you can’t move or it’s too overstocked.”

Sue and Claudia Heath at Isabella's Jungle

Around the corner, a couple of streets down on Normanby Street, is Isabella’s Jungle, co-owned by Claudia and Sue Heath.

The business is named after Claudia’s middle name, Isabella, and was something the mother and daughter pair always joked about.

“We used to travel a lot to find unique and quirky pieces like this and we would say ‘why don’t we just open our own shop’,” Claudia, 23, said.

“A couple of months later, here we are with it, making a dream come true.”

It is the first time they have both owned a business with Claudia’s background in working the counter at Surf Dive and Ski, while Sue worked in a deli and motels.

The family moved to Yeppoon 10 years ago, after living on a cattle property for 25 years, and the children went to boarding school on the coast.

A keen green thumb, Sue passed onto her children everything she had learnt about gardening over the years.

“Back on the property we had a massive greenhouse and we were taught what it looked from seed to adult advanced plant and everything in between,” Claudia said.

And now the pair is passing on knowledge to customers.

“We have been bombarded with positivity and amazing compliments and heaps of questions about gardening and even interior design.”

They passed on their top tips for those who may struggle to keep indoor plants alive (including this Morning Bulletin journalist).

“Pop your pot in a bowl of water, let it water from the bottom, it encourages the roots to go down,” Claudia said.

“You don’t have the top of the soil wet then, so you don’t get the fungus and the gnats,” Sue said.

“Re-pot them straight away with a good quality soil, that way you don’t bring any pests from the nursery home.”

Inside new plant and homewares store Isabella's Jungle.

Neem oil is also a good product to use and is used on all the plants in the store.

It works so well, most customers think the plants are artificial.

“A lot of people will come and they will ask ‘are they real’ because they are so shiny, green and healthy,” Sue said,

The shop is a reflection of their houses with plants, pots, homewares and other handmade items galore.

“It’s earthy, back to nature style, eco-friendly, our throws are 100 per cent recycled cotton, and we support Australian brands such as The Plant Runner and We The Wild that do it from nature and all organic products,” Claudia said.

Indoor plants have made a real resurgence in the past few years and are quite popular among millennials.

“Plants are known to help with anxiety and depression, cleaner air and a cleaner environment in your home,” Claudia said.

“It brings you back to nature and calmness.”

“There is nothing nicer than coming home after work and being able to sit somewhere in your own little sanctuary,” Sue said.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of day you have at work, you can come home and you can sit there and you feel instantly relaxed.”

“We want to create that for everyone else, we want to help them and teach them how,” Claudia said.

Originally published as Yeppoon business: Shantina Boutique and Isabella’s Jungle stores ready for customers