Danielle Hempseed, Lilly and Lotus, new store on William St, Rockhampton

The business has come a long way from starting in Danielle’s office in her home bedroom nine years ago. See inside the new space.

Danielle Hempseed of Lilly and Lotus has opened a new store on William Street.

Moving shops is always a tiresome and exhausting job, let alone for an events business in the middle of wedding season, but it’s all coming together nicely for Danielle Hempseed of Lill

y and Lotus.

Speaking on the eve of the new store’s grand opening, Danielle said it’s been a busy few weeks for the team moving the business from their Murray Street shop to a much larger warehouse and retail store on William Street.

“Everyone has just been working so hard, we have a small but dedicated team,” she said.

The new store is located at 102 William Street, Rockhampton, the former Gemini panel beaters workshop.

Taking up the former Gemini panel beaters workshop on the railway lane, the new space has meant there is a lot more room for the business that has grown exponentially in the last nine years.

They had been looking for a while until Jonathon Offord of Knight Frank Rockhampton found them the perfect site and persevered over six months of negotiations back and forth on the lease.

“Murray Street was meant to be interim while we found something else we moved out of East Street, then Covid hit and we stayed there for a while,” Danielle said.

“We needed quite a unique space in that we needed the room for the retail, which meant we couldn‘t go into the industrial areas, but we also needed all of the warehouse space for storage for all of our hiring inventory, as well as space to make flowers and hampers, and office space.”

Most spaces were just a 3x3 sqm shopfront with no storage.

“We are constantly maintaining our equipment and inventory, painting, cutting, grinding, so we needed a space for that too,” he said.

The formerly bright green workshop has been given a facelift with a fresh coat of crisp white paint.

Danielle Hempseed has grown Lilly and Lotus over the last nine years and has just moved into a new space.

“The aesthetics of what we had for our retail space was really important, I really wanted nice big windows so it was light and bright,” Danielle said.

The showroom on the William Street side has been kitted out with shelves and tables filled with “beautiful bits and pieces to accent your home”.

“We do have a lot of vases, to go with the flowers, but then there‘s cushions, textiles and lamps … it’s a collection of things I like,” Danielle said.

The business has come a long way since Danielle started it from her bedroom nine years ago while on maternity leave.

“We started as just event styling, the initial plan was just to style using assets available locally and not owning inventory … Then I started buying my own stuff and now it’s a 500 sqm warehouse of furniture,” she said.

Then they expanded in floristry, and it grew so much so Danielle hired florists, and then she added retail, hampers and corporate gifts to sustain the business during the low event season.

Lilly and Lotus new store: Danielle Hempseed with retail manager Aimee Kirby.

“It’s just evolved, the dream was always to bring a standard to Central Queensland that was just as good, if not better than any other major centre, and I think we have done that and I am proud we have,” Danielle said.

“I think we really forged the way for a lot of other businesses, before it was “oh that’s good enough, it’s just Rocky” … and I was like this isn’t good enough, let’s provide really good service, products and elevate that experience so people don‘t feel like they have to go to the Sunshine Coast, Whitsundays or Brisbane to shop, get married or host an event.”

Danielle’s husband, Scott, is now employed full-time through the business, having quit his job as a gasfitter at the end of 2020.

“He’s very supportive, I couldn’t ask for more in that,” she said.

Sharing the news of the new store on social media, Danielle said everyone has been really excited.

“I’m a bit oblivious to the following we have created and I get a bit surprised when people get excited about it,” she said.

“When we are out in uniform people stop us in the street and tell us how much they love our brand … I can‘t go grocery shopping without the person behind me or the person on the checkout talking to me about the business.

“We have worked so hard to make sure the events we deliver are of high calibre and are really beautiful.”

The new retail space with a wide range of homewares.

A grand opening will be held at the new store, 102 William St, on Saturday September 2, from 9am.

“We have lots of new things, even if you don’t want to buy something, it’s just such a beautiful space we have created, come and have a look,” Danielle said.

Originally published as Danielle Hempseed, Lilly and Lotus, new store on William St, Rockhampton