Sandra Pomfret to move her Bush Buddies store to East Street

A Rockhampton business owner has plans to move her shop to East Street and stock a whole new range of products.

Rockhampton business owner Sandra Pomfret has a busy few weeks ahead of her as she not only moves her shop, but also expands into a whole new range.

The owner of alterations business Bush Buddies is moving to the old Woods Menswear shop at 123 East Street.

The new store will also see a new arm of the business, Bush Buddies Fabrics, with plans for an online store in the future.

It comes after Dianne Jeha closed her Needlework Cottage business on Quay Street in July after 18 years of operation.

Ms Pomfret has bought the remaining Needlework Cottage stock, pursuing a dream she has had for years of expanding into haberdashery and fabrics.

“I am excited, it is something that has been playing on my mind ever since Dianne said she was closing and retiring,” she said.

“Fabrics go hand-in-hand and with CQ Patchwork and Needlework Cottage closing, that only leaves one store in Rockhampton which is Spotlight.”

Sandra Pomfret will move her business into the old Woods Menswear store on East Street.

The new fabrics business would fill the gap of a store on the southside.

“A lot of people have been saying ‘where are we going to get our stuff from now?’ Ms Pomfrett said.

“There is a need.”

Fabrics is something that is in Ms Pomfret’s blood as she is a third generation dry cleaner.

“I’ve grown up dealing with cleaning and doing minor alterations and repairs,” she said.

“I did sewing at school and loved it, this (Bush Buddies) came on the market, thought why not, at the time I had become a single parent … I could do this and be able to help my children finish off their schooling and have an income.”

She bought the business off Wendy White in 2015, who had founded it in 2000, formerly in Main Street, Park Avenue, before it moved to William Street.

“I bought the alterations side of the business, it goes hand and part with my parents’ business which is Ideal Drycleaners …. They do lots of mending and alterations, repairs.”

The current store is too small to fit the fabric shop, prompting the short move down the block and around the corner to East Street.

It is hoped the new store will be open on December 1.

Originally published as Sandra Pomfret to move her Bush Buddies store to East Street